An Orphan's past
by NervousTrash358
Summary: Morro's childhood wasn't always rough life on the streets. In Iden city, he had a family, his own home: what more could a child want? But one day everything changes for the worse. Will Morro and his older sister survive the new harsh reality of their city? *Warning for violence and death* Credit to squira130 for art owo
1. Prologue

**Herro! I'm so excited to start this uwu, I've been planning out a lot of it in my head and I still can't believe I'm actually going to start writing it XD I'll be writing roughly about once a week or even more if I get time, I'm sorry if I do end up missing the week (That happened a lot with End of Time lol), BE PATIENT ;U; Anyways, hope you enjoy this story, BYEEEE**

"Alright little squirt, see you in the morning." Cole smiled, tucking Jason in his bed. The brown-haired boy had woken up after a nightmare and walked downstairs. After a little comforting, Cole took him back up to bed with Monaca and Armin, who were already asleep in their beds.

"Night Cole..." He murmured back sleepily and soon fell into a deep slumber.

Cole slowly tiptoed across the room and closed the door gently. As he began walking back to the kitchen, he heard laughing and squealing coming from Jay's room.

"Urrgh..." He grunted. Cole approached Jay's room and swung the door open. He was about to tell the lightning elemental off for the noise, but then he realized the whole room was filled with the entire ninja team and they were either sprawled across the floor, buried in pillows or sat in different places in the room.

It took Cole a little while to realize what was happening.

"Are you serious? A pillow fight?! At one in the ******* morning?!" He hissed at them. A lot of them grinned sheepishly as he stared with a frown.

"Well we're sorry, we didn't _plan_ to have a massive pillow fight." Jay said whilst hanging upside down from his bed.

"So why are you all here then?!"

"Well Jay was having a pillow fight with Kai at first, but then the rest of us heard and we decided to join too." Tasha explained casually.

Cole sighed "I don't mind you having fun and all but the kids are over there and they're trying to sleep. They've only been here three days; we're still trying to make a good impression if you haven't forgotten!"

"Oh...right..." Kai smiled nervously "Sorry about that..."

Cole sighed.

Just as he sat down, someone opened the door in a rather furious manner.

"Do you have any idea of what time it is?" It was Misako, and she didn't look pleased.

"That's what I just said..." Cole explained with a sigh.

Turns out Garmadon and Wu were there as well.

"This room is a mess, can you return all these pillows back to their rooms. You are allowed to stay up late but please be mindful of the children a few rooms down." Sensei Wu told them.

"Yes Sensei." They chorused in monotone.

Everyone began clearing away the pillows and sorting out Jay's disastrous looking bed.

When they had nearly finished, Jay picked up the final pillow that belonged to his bed, but as he picked it up he noticed a piece of jewellery on the floor where the pillow had been. He placed the pillow on the ground and knelt. He then realized it was a heart locket. Jay opened up the heart; the contents were a photo of two people on one side and some writing on the other.

It said:

 _To my little goofball,_

 _I know you've been feeling a little sad lately, so I wanted to give you this. Mom kept telling me she'd give you this when you were older, but now that she's gone: I'm going to be the one to give it to you. So whenever you feel a little homesick you can look at us and feel better. Plus, we have matching lockets now! So no matter how far apart we are, we'll always be together._

 _Always remember that._

 _Love from Kurumi xx_

Jay stared for a moment and then averted his gaze over to the photo.

It was a picture of a small girl, probably around Monaca, Armin and Jason's age. She was wearing a cute pink dress with no sleeves. She had a small butterfly hairclip in the corner of her hair. She had golden coloured eyes and black hair, but the most fascinating feature about her was a long red highlight that went through her whole hair on one side.

Sitting on her lap was a small child, about five years old. He was wearing tiny overalls with a white shirt underneath. He had long hair for a boy that was black; he also had dark green eyes. Finally, just like the girl, he had a long highlight at the exact same side of his hair, except it was green like his eyes.

Jay realized who the small child was.

"Holy HELL!" Jay shouted suddenly, startling everyone.

"What?! What's the matter?!" Cole replied.

"Look!" He displayed the heart locket in his hands for everyone to see, but it was closed.

Everyone stared with confused expressions.

"Ummm...it's just a locket...and?" Cole raised an eyebrow.

Jay looked a little confused himself, but then realized that the locket was closed. However, just as he was about to open it for the group to see-a pair of hands swooped in and snatched it.

Morro clutched it in his hands tightly and put it back around his neck, he then hid it out of sight inside his PJ top.

"Thank you for finding it, but I'd _appreciate_ it if you'd mind your own business..." Morro snarled.

Jay stammered a little "S-Sorry! I found it under my pillow; guess you must've dropped it!"

Kai sniggered a little "Seriously? I thought it'd be one of the girls' but _Morro_ of all people wearing a _heart locket_?!"

Nya punched Kai hard in the arm with an angry expression.

"Oww..."Kai whined.

"Morro...you never told me you had something like this..." Wu spoke up a little, reaching for the locket to look, but Morro held it away.

"I didn't want any of you knowing it was there because you'd keep asking about it, but now that I've carelessly lost it everyone won't stop bugging me. No matter what, I'm not gonna tell you what's inside, so don't bother."

"Oh ummm...I may have...looked...inside..." Jay smiled nervously intertwining his fingers.

Morro suddenly approached Jay, holding him by the shirt.

"What the HELL did you see?!"

"Umm...every...thing?..." Jay was sweating so much now that his grin looked so fake and nervously forced. He began to sweat even more when he realized Morro's eyes were turning black with only a small green iris in the middle. His eyes only turned like that when he was _really_ upset.

Morro groaned and gently lifted him down to the floor, his eyes turned back to normal.

"Sorry..." He said quietly, but not making eye contact.

"I didn't know it was yours until I saw the photo and the writing...I'm sorry I looked." Jay finally apologized.

"It's fine..." He sighed "I just don't like others finding out about it, especially when they start to ask questions about it, it brings back horrible memories..."

"Well maybe keeping it to yourself is not such a good idea, keeping painful memories a secret can have serious affects on your mental well being." Zane suggested.

"Well what was in there anyway?" Skylor asked.

"It was a letter to him; apparently it was like a present. He got it from this person named...Kurumi...I think...who I'm guessing is really close to him. I even saw a picture of him as a kid." Jay told them, he then faced himself towards Morro "Ummm...who is she?"

Morro paused for a little bit "She's my...older sister..."

Everyone looked shocked.

"You never told me you had an older sister!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I told you...nobody knows about her...you're the first to know." He explained once again, he was still avoiding eye contact.

"Now I'm really curious..." Nya admitted "Aren't you gonna tell us about...you know, your past or something?"

"Yeah- no..." Morro replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on...please?..." Jay asked him, he looked like a child begging his parents for candy.

"No! All of you leave me alone!"

"Guys guys...let it rest a little. It must be really hard for him to talk about; pushing him like this isn't nice." Lloyd reminded them.

Everyone looked down on the floor guiltily.

"I guess..." Tasha said quietly "But I still wanna know..." She muttered finally with a pout.

Morro sighed a deep heavy sigh, even heavier than Cole's.

"Fine...I'll tell you all about...my past...before I met Wu: but you have to promise me one thing!"

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Don't...make fun of anything that happens. None of it's funny. And another thing, it's kinda distressing, not just for me, but for you as well. There are some pretty gruesome scenes in my childhood."

"We can handle it!" Kai told him excitedly.

"Ok fine...but don't blame me for being scarred for life after the story." He said coldly.

Everyone sat down in a circle, even Garmadon, Wu and Misako because they were curious too (Wu especially since Morro had never told him about this when they lived together).

Morro made space for himself in the circle.

"Oh wait; I'll grab some popcorn and all the pillows!" Jay remarked at the most inappropriate time.

He rushed out of the room in a flash and everyone was left dazed. Nya facepalmed herself.

After five minutes, Jay came back with a big bowl of popcorn and set it in the middle of the circle; he then chucked pillows to the correct owner.

"Oh, and tissues, just in case!"

Jay rushed out again leaving another awkward silence but came back after another dreaded five minutes. He also placed a box of tissues in the middle and chucked a flashlight at Morro.

"For special effects!" He explained with a huge mouthful of popcorn. Tasha and Cole also guiltily took some and began eating.

Morro frowned at Jay "This isn't a scary story; this is about something that ACTUALLY happened."

"But stories are fun!" He told him with another mouthful of popcorn.

The lightning elemental looked expectantly at the wind elemental. Morro angrily chucked the flashlight at Jay instead.

"You hold it; I'd just look awkward holding that."

"Okay!"

After a short awkward silence, Nya spoke up.

"Sorry about Jay...go on...you can tell us now." She told him kindly.

"Thanks."

Morro cleared his throat.

"So Jay...you saw my heart locket right? I'll show everyone else the picture but you'll be the only one to see the writing. That bit's personal and I'd prefer if no one saw it."

Morro opened the locket to show everyone the picture "That's me and Kurumi when we were younger."

Tasha squealed "You look so adorable!"

Morro looked a little flustered and blushed "I-I was a kid, what do you expect?!"

"Now I really wanna know what it said..." Kai remarked wistfully.

"Oh that's easy! It said: To my little goofball, I know you've been feeling a little sad lately, so I wanted to give you this. Mom kept telling me she'd give you this when you were older, but now that she's gone: _I'm_ going to be the one to give it to you. So whenever you feel a little homesick you can look at us and feel better. Plus, we have matching lockets now. So no matter how far apart we are, we'll always be together. Always remember that. Love from Kurumi, X-X." He told everyone casually, but then he saw Morro's glaring face.

"Oh right...sorry..." He laughed nervously.

"Come on Jay, you're just being too invasive now!" Nya scolded.

"Well I'm okay with it. At least I know what it says now." Kai smirked.

"How did you remember all that anyway?" Skylor asked the lightning elemental with a raised eyebrow.

Jay shrugged.

"Hush, you're all talking too much, let Morro speak." Garmadon reminded them gently. Then he looked at Morro and smiled with a nod.

Morro took a deep breath.

 ***LAUGHS EVILLY* That's it for now :3 Gonna have to wait for the next chapter! Lol but this does say 'Prologue' so what'd you expect? uwu**

 **Lol jk, hope you guys enjoyed, baaaiiiiiiii :D**


	2. The beginning of a tragedy

**Hi guys! NervousTrash here owo, I'm back with another chapter of An Orphan's past. We're basically getting to the story now so ye, the prologue was just a way of telling everyone how Morro would tell the others about it. This is basically a story of what Morro's life was like before Morro meets Wu, in my AU of course XD Also I'm going to Tenerife for two weeks on Thursday so just letting u know why I might not update for a while :) Anyways, ONTO dA STORY!**

It was 7am, early in the morning. Birds chirped from the outside in peaceful cacophonies. Rays of sunlight sneaked into the room from the window, it was half open, leaving a cool gentle breeze to enter the room every now and again.

It was peaceful.

Suddenly, the alarm clock on a bedside table began to drill constantly; drowning out the sound of the wind and scaring the birds perched on a nearby tree.

A small, tired groan could be heard from a messy bed as a small hand emanated from under the covers and felt its way towards the alarm clock. When the hand felt its annoying vibrating, it slammed the object, silencing it completely.

The covers were lifted up, revealing a small girl, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Her hair was extremely messy and her eyes were droopy. She looked around and sighed, the alarm clock ruining her sleep was one of the things she could never look forward to in the morning.

She suddenly spotted a note on her bedside table. The small girl lazily reached for it, picking it up carelessly and unfolding it once her body sat on her bed normally once again.

It said:

 _Dear Kurumi,_

 _You might have noticed that your father and I aren't in the house. He's out working in the woods as usual and I have to go get breakfast for you at the market. I'm sorry breakfast is a little late today but I promise I'll be back in time. Whilst I'm out, could you get dressed and wake your brother up too so you can go straight to school once you've finished eating, oh, and tidy up your room as well!_

 _Love Mom xx_

Kurumi sighed and got out of her bed.

She cleaned her teeth, got herself dressed into her usual clothes and brushed her hair. She decided to look in the mirror to see whether she looked neat enough for school. She couldn't help but admire herself, even though she was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing for a month.

The nine year old girl then looked to the right side of the room which is where her brother's side was. The small four year old was sleeping soundly in his bed.

She kneeled down to the height of his bed and shook him gently.

"Hey goofball, it's time to get up." She whispered gently with a smile.

The child turned in his sleep but he still didn't get up.

Okay, time for plan B.

The girl began to tickle his neck and he finally opened his eyes, he giggled and squirmed as she 'attacked' him. Eventually she stopped and after the child recovered from that, he got up and sat on the bed. He gurgled happily.

"Good morning!" She whispered happily to him.

"Morning!" He said in a tone that sounded like he'd accomplished something.

Even though Morro was four, his speech was delayed, so he sounded like a 3 or 2 year old. His first word was at 2, which was 'Mommy', a typical first word. His speech was a lot better now that he was older, but he was only able to say a few words that often didn't make sense. You'd have to be very close to him to understand what he's trying to say.

Kurumi lifted him up, baby style. Even though he could walk perfectly fine, he liked it a lot when she lifted him up. He was also very light and small so it was easy for a nine year old like her to carry him.

"Mommy, daddy?" He asked in a small voice.

"No silly, she's not back yet, and daddy's at work." She smiled "We have to wait patiently ok?"

"Hungry." He replied with a grumpy face.

"Well...since she's not back yet, I'll cut an apple for you as a breakfast snack. How about that?"

He nodded happily.

Kurumi set him on the floor and Morro sat at a random chair. The black haired girl pulled him towards the chair more and tucked his chair into the table so he could eat.

She grabbed a random apple from the nearby apple tree in their backyard, washed it in the outside tap and cut it into small chunks once she got inside. Morro didn't mind the skin so she didn't bother peeling the apple.

Kurumi's family were poor and so were the other houses that lived near them. They lived in a village that was in the woods. The village however, belonged to a nearby city called Iden. It was the wealthiest city in Ninjago. Those who were poor were _extremely_ poor; those who were rich were _extremely_ rich. That's how it worked. Even though they were poor, Kurumi was weirdly okay with it. They had enough money to at least have two meals a day, her village was friendly and she knew almost everyone there, and even though it wasn't a high quality, they even had a small school to teach kids of all ages. There was only one teacher however who volunteered to do it as she was an old woman, and her son, whom she lived with along with his family, provided for her. Although, it was a very friendly school and the classes had a relaxed atmosphere to it.

"Here you go." She placed the bowl onto the table in front of her brother. He began to eat the apple chunks hungrily with his hands. Kurumi couldn't help but laugh.

As her brother finished the apple, someone opened the door gently. It was a woman with a simple brown dress with a white shirt underneath. Her eyes were dark blue, her black hair was wavy and went down to her shoulders, and of course her most noticeable feature, the beautiful sky blue streak that went through her dark hair.

"Mommy!" Kurumi threw her arms around her mother.

"Mommy!" Morro repeated, running in a childish way towards his mother and putting his arms around her waist thanks to his height.

The woman lifted up her son and kissed him on the cheek "I'm sorry I've kept you both waiting."

* * *

It took them a while to settle down after breakfast was made. All three of them had a boiled egg to eat along with a slice of bread with a small spread of butter. Morro had his bread divided into squares because he liked to pick up his food and put it in his mouth rather than bite out of it.

"Done." Kurumi announced, about to go outside and wash her plate by the tap, but her mother stopped her.

"It's okay honey, I'll wash everything while you're at school. Speaking of which, you should start getting ready to go."

"Okay."

Kurumi put on her usual shoes and put on her ragged jacket. In the city, jackets were quite expensive, but their parents managed to find some coats that were second hand and bought them for a cheap price. They may have looked scruffy, but it was enough to keep them warm.

"Bye Mommy!"

"Bye sweetie!"

"Bye bye!" Morro said whilst waving his hand frantically.

Kurumi closed the door behind her and headed for school.

* * *

Kurumi opened the door to her house. School had finished and she had just made it home. She smiled as she saw her dad at the kitchen table. He smiled back at her. He had mousy brown hair that was slightly ruffled, but it suited him. He also had a slightly grown beard. His eyes were dark green, just like Morro's and he was wearing his usual white, long sleeved shirt, brown pants and a brown overcoat.

"How's my girl?"

They both hugged where he was sat.

"How was work?" Kurumi asked him, taking a portion of dinner. Her mother and her brother were also sat at the table for dinner.

"The usual. I managed to hunt down a duck, be grateful we got meat today missy!" He joked.

"That's what you always say; well I was at home making the rest of the dinner that I spent ages at the market trying to find the most affordable food for our small budget." The black haired woman smirked at her husband whilst folding her arms.

"Well hunting animals is pretty hard too ya know?" He smirked back.

Kurumi giggled "Okay okay! Let's just say it's 50/50."

"You're the boss." He smiled; he then ruffled Morro's hair making the child giggle as well "We need to get your hair cut mister." He remarked, holding up a lock of his hair.

"Boys can have long hair too you know, and don't you remember the last time we tried to cut his hair Lee?" His wife reminded him.

"Good point." He laughed. He then picked up Morro from his chair and held him above his head, bouncing him around "What am I ever going to do with you?!" He asked him in a silly voice

Morro squealed happily, kicking his legs frantically "Put me down!"

"Okay, okay." He chuckled, putting him back in his chair.

After a heartfelt dinner, both parents washed up the cutlery and plates whilst Kurumi put Morro to bed.

Once everyone had done their job, the three all sat together at the kitchen, talking about usual family things. But after a while, a knock was heard at the door.

Both parents looked at each other.

"Who could be here at this time?" Lee asked himself, he then turned to his wife "Yuri could you check who that is from the window?"

"Sure."

The woman approached the window and took a small peek; she then had a shocked expression on her face.

"What is it?" He asked her with a low voice.

"It's them, those so called 'soldiers' from the city!" She hissed.

Lee looked just as shocked as her. He then turned to his daughter

"Kurumi, go to your room." He told her with a serious but nervous tone.

"Daddy what's happening?" She asked him in a small voice.

"It's...grown up stuff, just please go to your room!" He hissed quietly.

Suddenly the knock turned to a constant bashing.

"We've been sent here to your home; we know you're in there, answer the door or we'll break our way in." A scary voice warned them.

Her father beckoned once again and Kurumi dashed straight to her room. Morro was in his bed but he wasn't asleep.

"Kurumi!" He said happily.

His sister hushed him gently. She put an ear to their bedroom door.

She heard someone open the door and what sounded like, two people stomping their way in.

"Look, we've already paid our tax this month, we haven't done anything wrong!" She heard her father talk to them strongly.

"Yes, you have, but under new terms of law you are no longer allowed to live like this. Your house will be destroyed and your possessions will stay here, you no longer have a need for them. Grab one keepsake maximum and follow us."

"What? What is the meaning of this?!" Kurumi heard her mother.

"Our mayor no longer wants or can afford to keep you around. You will all be separated and different households in the city area will make you work for them for nothing, but they will provide a roof and food for you. That's just the new policy of the poor, deal with it."

"You're basically just saying that the rich can do whatever they want with us, that's crazy! We'll never do it! We're staying in our home whether you like it or not!" She could hear her father becoming more and more aggressive.

"We are under strict order; if you refuse to cooperate we will have to exterminate you if necessary."

"You can't do that, killing someone when they've done nothing wrong is illegal here!"

"Yes, but that doesn't apply to the poor now."

Kurumi still kept her ear to the door, her eyes wide, _separated, work, new policy_? Her father was right, it was crazy.

"Move your family out of the building."

"We are not leaving!"

"We will use force."

"We can't move, we can't be separated from our kids!"

"Well that's not our problem."

Kurumi carefully opened the door, peeping an eye through.

"Alright, fine, we'll move. Just please let me take a keepsake." Her mother gave in.

Kurumi's father looked at her as if she were mad.

The black haired woman went into a nearby drawer and took her beloved object back to the door where they stood.

"What item have you got ma'am, we need to know for security reasons."

She sighed "This."

She suddenly took out a bottle of pepper spray and sprayed one of the men in the eyes; she then sent a gust of wind towards him making him crash into a nearby wall. She tried to push the other man out as well, but he took an axe he had with him. He swung it towards Yuri, but suddenly she was pushed out of the way.

He meant to hit _her_ , but he ended up hitting someone else.

Lee stood very still, his irises small. The axe ended up going through his head.

The man pulled out the axe and Kurumi's father dropped to the ground lifelessly.

Kurumi let a small gasp escape her mouth.

Yuri stared, cupping her hands in her mouth; tears were overflowing in her eyes.

"We weren't lying." He reminded her with an aggressive tone "We _will_ use force if necessary."

Yuri's sadness then turned to rage, she grabbed some nearby scissors and tried to attack him. They both struggled for a few seconds.

The nine year old couldn't take it anymore; she swung the door open and ran towards her mother, but then stopped seeing her lifeless father, bleeding on the ground.

He was dead.

He was actually dead.

 _He was never coming back._

She froze in place, eyes wide, her whole body trembling.

"KURUMI!"

The small girl snapped out of it and stared at her mother, looking back at her whilst struggling with the man.

"Listen, take your brother and get out of here! Get far away from this place and don't let them find you, whatever you do, don't get caught! Now GO-!"

Just as she had finished her sentence, the man who had been pepper sprayed had regained his consciousness. He picked up the axe the other had and hit it into Yuri's shoulder. She too, collapsed straight to the ground.

Kurumi stood, frozen at her place. The two men turned to her.

She scrambled to her feet and instantly ran to her room; she scooped her brother out of his bed and tried to escape through the window. But then she felt a strong hand latch onto her ankle and pull her out. She tumbled to the floor while one of the men took her brother. He began to scream, kick and cry.

"NO!" She yelled, about to get up but two fierce arms held her down.

"Unless you want to end up like your parents I suggest you cooperate." Was the last thing he said to her before hitting her with the handle of the axe, knocking her out.

 **AH AH AH, BEFORE YOU LEAVE, READ THIS /**

' **WELL THAT ESCUALTED QUICKLY' Says you. Lol jk. Anyways, this is kinda what starts the whole thing. The poor can no longer be sustained in the city and is costing the government there so the Mayor was like 'Eh who cares about them anyways let's just treat them like crap :D'. Basically the rich can do whatever they like with the poor and no one would persecute them or anything. Think of it like the early slavery days when being cruel to blacks was ok because whites were the more 'dominant' race blah blah blah. So this is how it's gonna work throughout the rest of the story. Also there's going to be a year's time skip next chapter so Morro's going to be able to say a lot more and I'll tell you what happened to them etc. etc. Also sorry about some errors in my writing, this chapter was kinda rushed since I am going on vacation soon so ye. I promise next time my chapters will be more thorough. ANYWAYS THAT'S ALL BAIII :D**


	3. Ezra

**Heyooooo, NervousTrash here :D As I said in the previous chapter, I was away for two weeks for vacation so I wasn't able to update ;-; I don't think I'll bother to catch up, but I think I'd prefer to do this early and shiz to at least get back on track. Also me and Firstfandomfangirl are starting Ninjatale (I prefer Ninjagotale but that's just what it's called now XD) qwq She's already done a quick prologue for it and I'm supposed to be updating the first chapter. But this story, I think, should be updated first because I've neglected it for so long thanks to my vacation .u. Plus Ninjatale was updated like a day or two ago so I don't think I'm making anyone too impatient yet XD Anyways, hope you enjoy! Baiiiiiiiiiiiiii :D**

 **Warning: A death around the end of the chapter just a heads up (It's not too bad but just in case, I did warn you about violence and death in the summary you know, cuz this isn't exactly a fun happy happy story uwu)**

After the incident, Kurumi kept trying to convince herself everyday that all of this was a dream or that her parents weren't really dead and would come back for her and her brother. However, no matter how hard she wished, all of her hopes were proven wrong. This wasn't a dream, her parents were really dead.

When she finally accepted this, she couldn't stop crying. She had never felt so sad and hopeless in all her life.

One day, Morro had finally worked up the nerve to ask her of what had happened to their parents. A small part of her wanted to lie just so he wouldn't end up in the same emotional state, but they were his parents too, he deserved to know despite how young he was.

Kurumi felt horrible when he began to cry too, in fact, his pain lasted longer than hers. He wouldn't stop tearing up every now and then because all he could ever think about was _them_. Even in his sleep, Kurumi would often hear him murmur 'Mommy' or 'Daddy' or anything to do with them. This only made her heart ache more.

When Kurumi had woken up from being unconscious, she had found her and her brother trapped in a cage where twenty other people from different poor areas or even from the same village as her, were trapped with them. When she had asked the others trapped with her of what was happening, they shook their heads sadly and said that they were all going to be sold at an auction.

As a nine year old, she was confused as to what 'auction' meant. But once they arrived, one by one, different people were dragged out. Some cooperated, some screamed and tried to resist, she then realized that they were being separated from their loved ones, or were just scared and confused children. She even shook a bit when the man in charge of them started whipping a small girl who tried to hurt him and run away.

Eventually it was their turn. Kurumi was dragged out separately but she held onto Morro anyway, indicating that she refused to cooperate.

The man looked at her threateningly "You've got a real nerve girl. Let go of the boy and come up to the stand."

The black haired girl shivered "I-...Please let him stay with me. H-He's my brother, I promise that I'll work well, I'll even do extra if I have to but, please, let him stay with me!..."

The man stared at her and her brother and sighed "Fine, but don't expect to be let off easy next time."

"Thank you!" Kurumi knew that this man was evil and cruel but he let her stay with her brother all the same.

"Shut your damn mouth!" He hissed.

Kurumi did as she was told as the man held onto her arm almost a little too tightly, even though she had chains already, and dragged her and her brother onto a stand.

Many men and women who looked extremely wealthy were all seated in rows below them.

A tall looking man began to speak many weird words and began to say numbers randomly whilst people put their hands up for strange reasons. So this was an auction?

Eventually the man counted to three and bashed his wooden hammer against the stand and declared they were sold.

She saw that an old man with wispy long hair up to his shoulders was the last to offer a price. He was wearing fancy clothing and was surrounded by two men, probably guards of his since he looked wealthy. This man however, looked much scarier than the man that was in charge of them previously, and the worst thing was, he was the one who had bought them.

* * *

A year had passed since then. Kurumi and Morro were living in a wealthy man's mansion together. However, even though they were under the same roof, they had to sleep separately, so she only got to see him once or twice a day whilst at work. Kurumi would often give him an encouraging smile every time they passed each other. Sometimes-if they were lucky-she even got to talk to him for a while, but people who were servants (Actually paid by him and treated better) would scold them and tell them to get back to work.

The work they often had to do was to serve the master and his family their dinner and other household chores. The food that was fed to them was gruel from the leftovers of the master and his family, including small portions of water every now and then; the 'beds' that they had were just small ragged sheets for them to sleep on the floor in a cramped room with many other people who were slaves of the same gender.

This by itself wasn't too bad, but here's where it gets worse.

There were so many rules and so many places that they weren't allowed to visit, even if they broke one, or even by accident, they were whipped on the arm until they bled.

Another thing is that if any were to try and escape, they were chased by guards owned by the master and were shot at continuously until they dropped dead. Then they would take the corpse and chuck them into a ditch and bury them. Even if they successfully escaped, they would be recognized as a slave thanks to their rags and taken back to the estate they belong to, and take a guess as to what would happen to them once they returned.

Life was cruel.

* * *

Kurumi's eyes shot open as a loud-mouthed maid began to shout for them to wake up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as the maid unceremoniously bashed the pots together and shouted at them to get to work.

Today, she was going into the garden for the first time to do work with all of the older boys (Young ones like Morro would work with the women). One boy around her age had attempted to run away and was killed, so she was replacing him until another slave was bought. She found garden work to be quite exhausting, but was proud of herself for not stopping nonetheless.

She was a little sad that she probably wouldn't get to see Morro today since he was working indoors. She sighed as she began doing the planting once she had removed the weeds.

"So you're the girl that's replacing that boy."

Kurumi's eyes darted towards a boy that was planting next to her. He had hazelnut coloured messy hair, his eyes were a dark shade of blue. He weirdly looked like a younger version of her dad, except for the eye colour.

The black haired girl stared with wide eyes.

"Well I know I'm good looking and all but do you really have to stare that much?" He teased.

Kurumi flushed a deep red and tried to ignore him by going back to her work, she began planting the seeds hurriedly, forgetting the fertilizer soil.

"Um...you're not doing it right. Here." The boy gently lifted her hands up and took a pile of fertilizer soil and matted it on the ground, he then planted a corn seed carefully and sprinkled the dug up parts into the small hole to bury it.

The poor girl looked even more embarrassed "I-I knew that! I just prefer to put the fertilizer when I'm done with the seeds!"

The boy gave her the smirk again "Sure you did."

She opened her mouth to say something back, but then gave up and sighed sadly, looking back at the plants. She began to water the seeds she'd planted.

"Yeah, I know, I'm not good at garden work. This is my first time doing it." She said quietly.

The boy's smirk turned into a kind smile "It's ok, I figured that out anyway. Plus, if it's your first time doing it, don't be hard on yourself for getting it wrong. Just learn something new from it."

"Y-Yeah..."

Kurumi was bewildered by this boy. One minute he looked like your typical show off and the next, the kindest boy you'd ever met.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me,"

The black haired girl turned towards him.

"I never got to introduce myself. My name's Ezra Kizakura, you?" He held his hand out.

Kurumi hesitated for a second and returned the gesture by giving her hand to him and shaking it.

"K-Kurumi Ackerman." She suddenly found she was a lot more relaxed than usual.

"Wanna be friends? You seem like the only nice person around here that's actually around my age."

"You don't even know my age!"

"Lemme guess...ten!"

"How'd you know?!"

Ezra giggled and dazzled his hands with a cheeky smile.

"Magic!"

"So you're ten as well?" Kurumi guessed.

"Nope, eleven!"

"Oh come on! You said 'around your age' no fair!" Kurumi laughed. It was a long time since she had felt this happy.

"Well I wasn't wrong."

"OI!"

The two looked up to see the man normally put in charge of the slaves working in the garden. The scary look he was giving them was not a good sign.

Suddenly, he quickly swiped his hand and yanked at Kurumi's hair. The black haired girl yelped in pain.

"I don't wanna hear another bloody word from you two." He warned them "Got that?"

The black haired girl nodded whilst whimpering.

"Let GO of her!"

The man turned towards the hazel haired.

"What did you say boy?"

Ezra suddenly felt overcome with fear "I-I!..."

The man held onto his arm as he dragged him from his working spot and back into the mansion. All Kurumi could do was stare as he was forcefully taken away as he kept begging the man to let him go. She knew perfectly well what was going to happen to him.

* * *

That night, the ten year old cried herself to sleep. Ezra was going to be beaten mercilessly and it was all her fault. Why did he have to stand up for her? All the slaves here knew that answering back to the slavers would only just get you into more trouble.

All of a sudden, she saw a figure enter the room; the person tiptoed across the room past the many other female slaves sleeping there. Finally, the figure reached her. She tried to act like she was asleep.

"I know you're awake." A familiar voice whispered to her.

Kurumi's eyes shot open "Ezra!" She half whispered. She threw her arms around him. She had only known this boy for a day yet she already cared so deeply for him.

"Thank God you're safe!" Once she let go of him, she began to cry a little.

"Woah there: it's fine! Look, I'm ok!" He laughed quietly as to not wake anyone up "Were you seriously that worried?"

Kurumi nodded with a relieved smile, wiping away the small tears in her eyes. It was just then that she noticed blood on his shirt.

"Are you ok?! You've got a blood stain on your shirt!"

The hazel haired laughed "I know that, I would've been in deep trouble if I hadn't defended myself."

The black haired girl stared at him amazed "You stood up to him, how?"

Ezra just smirked "Well first we gotta get outta here, _then_ I'll tell you."

Without asking whether she was okay with going, he gripped her arm and led her out of the room.

Once he closed the door behind them (Quietly), he continued down the hall.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see."

* * *

After a long while of while of walking they finally stopped outside of the 'punishment room'. Ezra began to smirk at her, but this one had a slightly more menacing look than before.

"You wanna know what I did to him? Simple,"

He then opened the door to reveal what he had done.

Kurumi's irises grew small and her hands began to waver.

The enslaver was lying motionless on the ground. His facial expression indicated that he had suffered greatly before his death. Blood was seeping and dripping through his shirt, and finally, the murder weapon: a knife, was stuck deep into his chest.

"...I killed him."

* * *

"W-What have you...?" The ten year old fell to her knees in shock. It didn't take her long to realize that that blood stain on his shirt wasn't his own, but the _enslaver's_.

Ezra frowned at her "Aren't you glad I escaped unscathed...well, mostly?"

The frightened child darted her eyes towards him, she stood up and shook his shoulders violently.

"Don't you understand what you've just DONE?! They're gonna kill you for this! And now that you've dragged me into this, I'm gonna get killed too, and then Morro will have NO ONE!"

The hazel haired stared back at her with wide eyes, but then began to talk again after a long silence.

"Well at least keep your voice down, thank God this place is soundproof. And who's this Morro guy, your boyfriend?" He asked her with a disgusted face.

"No! He's my younger brother you idiot! And don't avoid the topic-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, as traumatized as she was, Ezra lifted her chin up. His face had a scary look to it.

"My goal is to kill every enslaver in this place so everyone can be freed. I managed to get in contact with some rebellion: they said they'd rescue us if we killed everyone who's responsible for our imprisonment. But of course, there's still the master and his stupid wife and son. You saw him at the auction didn't you? This isn't the first time I've killed someone, so I'll handle all seven enslavers, all you've got to do is find some way to kill him and his family early in the morning before they find out what I've done. You think you can do that?"

Kurumi blinked for a minute, since she was still in deep shock, she still couldn't comprehend what was happening. She then shook her head violently.

"No! You're crazy, it won't work! And even if we do escape, people will be bound to notice us and trap us in another horrible place!"

"The rebellion will stop that from happening, they have a secret base."

"We don't stand a chance!"

Before Kurumi could say another word, Ezra looked at her seriously again.

"Are you serious? You wanna live here for the rest of your life, go ahead, I won't stop you. But let me remind you of one thing..."

He paused for a moment.

" _Is this really what your parents died for?_ For you to just cower in the dark and live under the rule of these stupid enslavers?"

Kurumi's stared at him with quivering eyes.

"H-o-w—d-i-d—y-o-u—k-n-o-w-?"

"It's what happened to me as well, and to a few others too. What? Did you think you were the only one? Well, it's not like I never cared much for my parents anyway. But my point is: do you want this 'Morro' of yours to live a happy life alongside you?"

Kurumi hesitated for a bit and then nodded sadly.

"Then do as I say, think of a plan and wake up early, _kill them_. The rebellion group will come to rescue us once all of them are dealt with."

As he said that, Ezra quietly left the room, leaving Kurumi with the enslaver's body.

 **AAAH Sorry this is so bad ;u; I kinda tried to quicken it up a bit at the end so we can start getting to the main stuff, ANYWAYS THAT'S ALL SEE YA :D**


	4. The plot

***DeAth don't say I didn't warn ya**

Kurumi lay awake that night. After Ezra had left, she didn't know what else to do besides go back to bed. There was no way she could stand a moment longer bearing the presence of a body.

" _Is this really what your parents died for?"_

She let those words imprint in her brain. She didn't know what else to think about, except _him_ and those horrible words he spat from his mouth. Kurumi wanted to punch herself for even liking him for a second. She clenched her fists and fought back the tears.

In a way, he was right. Even if they continued to cooperate and not risk being killed, the law still said that the rich could do ANYTHING to the poor: even if they had done nothing wrong. One minute she and her brother would be safe, the next, their master could beat them to death if he felt like it. For this, she also hated _herself_ for thinking that she would prevent her death if she followed the rules.

So she could either die a slave, or die a rebel. Both sounded just as horrid as the other in different ways.

Kurumi realized that rebelling would be her best choice if she wanted to provide a better future for Morro, and she missed him dearly: seeing him once a day for only a mere second wasn't enough.

As she began dozing off into an unexpected sleep, she thought out a simple plan in her head.

Tomorrow, as much as she hated him, she decided to go with Ezra's plan: kill the master, his wife and son.

* * *

The black haired girl suddenly felt a gentle shake on her shoulder, her golden eyes drowsily opened to see a familiar face looking down at her. She stared at him for a while, then she abruptly came to a realization of who it was and quickly shuffled away from him.

"Good morning Kurumi." He smirked "Sorry to wake you up so early, but in order for this plan to work, we have to slip by when everyone's still asleep."

Kurumi stared at him with angry eyes and said nothing.

It didn't take long for Ezra to notice "What, still mad about yesterday? Trust me, once this is all over, you'll be thanking me."

Kurumi still kept her mouth shut.

The ten year old sighed "Fine, be that way." He took a black knife from his pocket and handed it to her. It looked like a thick material and there were circles carved onto the blade for decoration, and on one side of the blade another special imprint was marked: _Kurumi_.

The ten year old looked at the boy in astonishment.

"This is deepstone, I've seen them in rich shops before, where'd you get this?!"

"Oh so now you're talking." He began sarcastically "My dad used to be a blacksmith. He made weapons for the rich and all those guards-he was paid very little for it, and if you ask me he was stupid for taking the job. Oh, and your name was just a thing I did with my own deepstone knife, a thank you would be nice."

Kurumi looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ezra sighed and stood up "Anyways, I've gotta job to do, if I were you I'd start doing yours."

Kurumi suddenly felt incredibly nervous "...Wait!"

Ezra stopped and turned around.

"U-Um...I don't know about this. I've never killed anyone before; I'm not experienced like you are. I might fail and die, then what?!"

"Well I don't know! Just...think about what he and the stupid government have done to your life: that should get you going. And dying isn't gonna be a problem, I'll deal with those guards of his, so he can't call for help. Ok?"

Kurumi gulped and nodded.

"Good. Don't worry, it'll be easier than you think."

And with that, he left for good.

Kurumi huddled herself in her knees, eying the-...her knife.

"I'm sorry Mom, I'm sorry Dad, I don't want you to hate me for what I'm about to do, but if it'll give me and Morro a better future then I guess I have no choice." She murmured sadly.

With that she left the room, with the knife safely hidden.

* * *

"Master Walder, MASTER WALDER!"

The white haired man rose from his bed sleepily, his maid was the one who woke him up, she looked terrified and frightened. He looked at his watch.

"It's 5 in the morning for crying out loud, this better be an emergency!" He yelled.

"It is! Come quickly!"

The old man grumbled, lifting himself out of the bed. Since he was quite old, he needed help to get up. They both rushed down several floors of the mansion (Well as fast as the man could go) until they reached the bottom floor.

"T-They're in here!" She pointed towards the kitchen.

"What on Earth do you mean?!-"

He abruptly halted his speech and stared with wide eyes. Both his wife and son were motionless on the ground, all he could do was stand still and quiver.

"W-h-o...?" He didn't know what to say, he just stood there, his irises small.

He finally snapped out of it.

"Get the police, NOW!"

He heard no footsteps from her.

"Why are you just standing there?! CALL THEM! My family's DEAD!"

He turned around abruptly only to see the maid slotting a wooden plank into the door. She then turned around and tugged at her wavy, brown hair, removing the whole thing.

The man stared in shock at the now black haired girl as she pulled out a knife; before the man could react, the ten year old lunged at him, stabbing him in the chest whilst both fell to the ground.

* * *

Kurumi stood there shaking with wide eyes at all three of her victims. Blood had sprayed all over her face and stained her fake maid dress.

She was a murderer.

She didn't know what to think, she found that she disturbingly managed to hit him directly in the heart and slice his throat before he could resist, resulting in him bleeding to death. She strangely knew what she was doing despite how scared she felt. That alone was scary enough.

Kurumi suddenly felt a very desperate urge to get out.

She removed the wooden plank from the door, once she was out of the kitchen; she slammed the door behind her all whilst letting herself fall to the floor against it. She closed her eyes tightly and hunched her body.

"I don't wanna be here anymore..." She sobbed quietly into her knees "I just wanna go home!"

A sudden voice rang out through the large hall "Kurumi? Kurumi are you ok?!"

Her tear-filled face looked up to see Ezra running towards her with a concerned expression on his face. He too had blood stains on his clothes, but not as much as hers.

Ezra looked at her blood stained body surprised "You actually killed them?...I'm surprised." He smiled whilst scratching his head "I'd expected you to chicken out and I'd have to come save your-"

Kurumi stood up and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder. She began to full-on cry into his shirt.

Ezra blushed a little but understood she was upset and hugged her back.

"I'm sorry." He replied sadly "I guess I was a little hard on you."

* * *

Sad tiny whimpers could be heard from the door. Cole looked behind him to see Dexter lowering his head and approaching them. He tried to lift his hands out so he could comfort the dog but the animal ignored him and headed straight for the nearest person, who happened to be Skylor. He looked extremely hurt and the Amber elemental patted him sympathetically. She then began to stroke Dexter.

"What's wrong? Having trouble sleeping?"

"Awww he wanted to be included!" Tasha cooed.

"Ok cool, yeah, great! Can everyone please shut up? Morro's story is starting to get much more interesting, and you ruined it!" Jay whined.

"You're worse than Kai..." Nya sighed. Kai, in response to this, looked at her with an un-amused expression.

"Jay, please be mindful that Dexter just wanted to see us, Morro can go back to the story at any time." Garmadon reminded him with a tired smile

"Speaking of the story, I must admit I'm quite shocked to hear your sister had to do such a thing at a young age like that." Wu added.

Morro shrugged "It doesn't really surprise me since I've pretty much lived in that situation for most of my childhood, but I get what you're trying to say.

"PleEEaase just carry ooooon." Kai whined "We listen to the story first, and _then_ you can start having a mother's meeting about it."

Misako looked at Morro sheepishly as if to say nicely and silently: _Please carry on otherwise everyone won't shut up_.

With that, the black haired continued.

 **#ProtectHer #DexterIsLoveDexterIsLife #I'mSorryTheEndingIsRushed**


	5. The rebellion

**I apologise for this being so late ;A;**

After Kurumi had stopped crying, both children made their way into the hallway. Kurumi was surprised to see all of the slaves and servants gathered altogether. In total there were approximately twenty slaves, the servants were also a similar number. They were all completely confused and scared.

"Kurumi!"

Kurumi jumped a little and turned around to see her little brother looking up at her with a big smile on his face.

"Morro!"

The older sister picked up her little sibling and hugged him tightly.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" He wailed a little.

"Me too..." She replied with a quiet voice, she too teared up a little.

"So that's your little brother?"

The two siblings looked at Ezra, Morro still being held by Kurumi.

"Who's that boy?" He tried whispering in her ear, but it came out as a loud hiss and Ezra heard everything.

"Ezra Kizakura: just call me Ezra. Nice to meet you...Morro Ackerman." He smirked, holding out his hand.

Since Morro was only five, he didn't really know what a handshake was, so he copied him, only he didn't grab his hand.

"No silly." She chuckled "You're supposed to grab his hand and shake it."

Ezra demonstrated by attaching his medium sized hand to Morro's tiny sized and chubby one and shook it slowly. Morro became fascinated and started shaking Ezra's as well, only a bit too quickly-this made Ezra laugh and Kurumi gently remind him that he had to shake it gently.

Not long after, five rebels came to rescue them. The ten year old girl thought that the servants would be taken too, but two of the men asked them to stand together and separate from the slaves. They followed his order-still quite confused.

"Cover his eyes." Ezra told Kurumi. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but did it anyway. Ezra then cupped it over his ears. Morro became confused and tried to take their hands off, but he was too weak to.

Suddenly, the two men pulled out firearms. They then aimed it at the group. They all grew frightened and confused, some screamed, some ran away. Then the men opened fire and killed most of the group. Five people managed to run, but the men weren't stupid. The two aimed their guns and shot the five, who were pathetically screaming and running before they fell onto the floor.

Kurumi stared horrified, even Ezra who was usually so calm and composed shivered a little. The slaves too began to panic.

The men turned to them and put their guns away. One of them was a young man with neat, black hair that curled into two side parts. The rest were big bulky men who looked like they were raised to kill.

"Don't worry; we're not going to hurt _you_. It's just those idiots. They may not be that rich but they deserve to die all the same, there's no way they're coming into _my_ rebellion. Now," He paused a little "Which of you contacted us on the radio, and how the hell did you know we existed?"

Kurumi and Ezra let go of Morro's eyes and ears and Kurumi instead placed it on his shoulders. She then nudged Ezra when he wouldn't put himself forward.

"I can't, they think I'm a teenager. If I put myself forward I might get caught into unwanted attention."

Morro looked up at his sister with a confused expression; she stared back at him nervously.

The man sighed "Fine, we'll have to save the details for later. But for now, we have to take you to our rebellion; you'll be living there until we manage to overthrow the government, or somebody rescues us. You'll have to cooperate and have duties there. If you don't fulfill any, it just shows you're useless to us, and we'll throw you back to the dangers of the rich-we don't accept people for nothing. Young children however, get to stay until they're ten. It's an early age but we need all the help we can get. We'll tell you more later, but for now, we need to get you the hell out of here."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, they had to slip by unnoticed. The whole group had to remove a drain cover and move through the sewers to get to their destination. They said that they had a map of all of the sewage pipes which is how they're able to travel around, as dirty as it seems.

Eventually, they reached a huge metal door in one of the dead ends. The leader of the group demonstrated that the door couldn't be opened unless people from the inside knew it was one of their own. The leader then knocked on the door in a particular rhythm and the door was opened automatically.

Kurumi was fascinated by this amazing place. It was so big they could've gotten lost. There was a kitchen, bathrooms, dining hall for them to gather and eat, a nursery, doctor's office and treatment room-all kinds of things you wouldn't expect to see at a rebellion shelter. The leader explained that there were rich people who were against the law and were helping to keep them in hiding. There were even a few people who supplied them regularly, and hadn't betrayed them at all (Of course, the people of the rebellion had to pick up the supplies themselves, thus why they needed 'fetchers').

She also saw many people, who were supposedly ex-slaves wearing clothes they would normally get to wear before the stupid law was passed down. Everyone looked happy.

Of course it was nothing compared to the rich, but it had everything they needed, not to mention it was organised.

"This is awesome! I wouldn't mind living here forever!" Ezra remarked.

However, after a while they were taken to a particular room where they had to be tested.

The leader smirked a little whilst he faced the new members.

"How silly of me, I guess I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Lucas Maynard, but I'd prefer to be addressed formally: just refer to me as 'Sir'; I am your leader after all. Here you're going to be tested on your abilities. The jobs available are Child-Carer, Cook, Doctor, Cleaner, Fetcher and Assassin. Assassins are only for sixteen and above considering how dangerous it is. Pick which one you think you're okay with doing, and we'll test you. You don't have to be amazing, just satisfactory. If you fail, we'll move you on to another job. If you fail all of them, we kick you out. Children will get taken to the nursery."

As he finished his explanation, all of the people required to do a job were taken to be tested. The young children were taken immediately to their rooms-including Morro.

"Will he be ok?" She asked the carer taking the children away "I'll see him again if I pass the test right?"

The lady nodded with a friendly smile "Of course." As she said that, she led the children to the nursery.

"You better pass Kurumi." Ezra whispered with a serious tone.

Kurumi looked at him with a surprised expression on her face "What?! Of course I'll pass. There are loads of jobs; it's basically an insult to even worry I won't pass!"

"Y-Yeah..." He said whilst scratching his hair sheepishly "Sorry for underestimating ya Ku..."

"Ku? We haven't even become proper friends yet and you're already giving me a nickname? Plus, it sounds dumb..."

"Why? I doubt we'll separate, plus, we'll probably become good friends anyway! So I'll be calling you that whether you like or not." He smirked.

The black haired girl looked away and pretended not to notice him.

* * *

Not long after, they were taken to be assessed. They all had to say their names, for some reason, Luke never addressed anyone by their first name, it was always their last. Kurumi had never seen someone so strict about formality.

Both of the children were then separated and Kurumi worked her way through the different jobs.

First: cooking. She could never cook meat, cakes or anything to a good standard; it was either burnt or raw. Not to mention, all of the fancy herbs and spices. She thought that the more spices she put into the soup, the better it'd taste. Instead, she burned the mouth of the assessor and she sent her out. It was clear she didn't take from her mother...

Second: fetching. Kurumi found it hard to hide all of the stuff she took and couldn't even take the food and water quickly enough. The assessor shouted at her, telling her she would've been caught that instant. She wasn't even strong enough to carry all the supplies.

Third: child-caring. Looking after the children was a struggle. The kids were scared of her and she had an impatient (Which was unintentional) attitude towards them. The only child who she managed to approach was Morro, but the assessor knew they were siblings and gently told her she failed.

Fourth: Doctor. She was immediately dismissed as she had no medical training and wasn't old enough.

Fifth: cleaning. She was too disgusted by the bathrooms (Especially the toilets) she had to take care of, and couldn't work with the equipment. Kurumi failed to clean the room in the end.

Sixth: Assassinating. But of course, like the Doctor assessor, she was immediately rejected because of her age.

Kurumi felt her heart get heavier as she realized she had completed and failed all of the available jobs. Wait...that meant she had to leave. Ezra and Morro would be here, living a good life-she would be out in the streets starving to death or being sold to another owner.

Luke looked at her with disappointed eyes and shook his head.

"You're going to have to leave. You failed all the tests and it's clear you're of no use to us. Goodbye."

It's as if she had been punched hard in the stomach. How could he have no remorse?

Luke led her to the door and waited impatiently for her to clear off. He didn't even allow her to say goodbye to Morro or Ezra. She stepped out of the door with tears of despair rolling down her cheeks.

"WAIT!"

Before Luke shut the door, the two saw Ezra running wildly towards them with a frantic expression. He then stopped and breathed heavily.

"What the hell do you want Kizakura?-"

"There's a job she can do!" He blurted out.

Kurumi looked at him with shocked eyes, why was he doing this?

"Tch, like what?"

"She could be an assassin!"

Luke looked at the eleven year old boy as if he were mad "Don't be a f****ing idiot you brat, she's too young. Even adults need a lot of skill to do it. It's dangerous! Unless you have proof that she's capable of it, I'm not-!"

"I was the one who called you! I didn't wanna tell you back at the mansion because I thought I'd get into trouble for lying and saying I was a teenager. I asked her to help kill off the owners and the guards since she was the only friend I had there. I took care of the guards, but I've had a lot of experience killing. She killed the owner, his wife and their son-that was her first time! She's a good killer, she really is! So give her a chance with assassination, I'll do it with her. If she fails or I fail: we'll both leave, but if we pass: we get to stay and become assassins. Seem like a deal?"

Ezra, for his age, was a remarkable negotiator.

Luke sighed "Tch...Fine, but we're not responsible if any of you damn kids die out there!"

* * *

He kept to his word. Kurumi and Ezra took the test and passed immediately. The assessor was astonished at their skill, even Luke was taken aback. Ezra, of course, was good because he was experienced. Kurumi just naturally had it in her. It was amazing, as well as disturbing.

Her father had mentioned it before when he was alive. He told her how he participated in the Serpentine war with her mother. She was an excellent fighter with the best fighting skills out of all of the warriors. She didn't even need her ***** magic. Maybe she had taken after her...

 ***At the time, Kurumi didn't know what an element was and just called it, power or magic. Her parents never got to tell her about it either.**

After that, they were welcomed to a room which the three had to share (Morro, Ezra and Kurumi herself) since there wasn't room for one each. The ten year old girl was a little uncomfortable sharing with a boy (Who wasn't her brother), but had to suck it up because of the shortage of space.

That night, Kurumi realized just how much better their lives had became from that day alone. She smiled to herself as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep in her warm bed.

And their lives as rebels began from there.

 **THANK UUU FOR READING! Idk why this is so late, I should really learn to keep up with this better XD Also in the next chapter is going to skip 5 years, so Morro will be 10, Kurumi will be 15 and Ezra will be 16 :D Since Morro's older he'll become a coexisting protagonist with Kurumi, so to all those Morro fans, THiS is YoUR LuCKy dAy .3.**

 **BAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ~**

 ***Flees***


	6. Torment

**Hello~ I haven't been able to get on in a while cuz my brother is revising for his finals. I don't blame him but it's harder to get on now cuz of that :P Oh well XD**

Morro's eyes fluttered open lazily as his eyes were greeted with the morning light.

Since they were underground, there was no morning sun, only the hall lights shined through their window. However, the light always had to go through the room's curtains-this created a dim light in the room. It almost felt like he wasn't in the rebellion every time he woke up.

The long haired boy attempted to sit up and check the time, only to have two arms gently drag him back to his sleeping position. Kurumi...

The boy's innocent eyes looked up at his older sister. She was sleeping soundly. Her hair had grown over the past five years. It used to be up to her neck, now it was down to her thighs. Morro intertwined her hair into his fingers, lazily lifting it over his palms. Strands of black silk slowly escaped through his fingers as he let go of it. He then did the same with another group of strands: her red strands that is.

Morro nuzzled his head into her soft chest and breathed in her scent. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was a soothing scent that could only be found from his sister.

The child slowly sat up and held Kurumi's hands gently so she wouldn't subconsciously drag him back again. Ezra was sleeping on the floor with a futon below his body. It had become his bed for a couple of years. At first, Kurumi had gotten used to Ezra sleeping at the other side of the bed. Although, as they grew older, Kurumi became uncomfortable with a boy sleeping in the same bed as her-even if Morro was in the middle, thus, why he was now sleeping on the floor.

Morro lifted himself slowly off of the bed as to not alert Kurumi. He then snuck over to the futon with an evil smirk on his face.

"WHEE!" Morro let himself fall onto Ezra facing his front. He landed on him causing him to awaken with a fright.

"Aah-! Morro!"

The teenager looked at the young child who smiled innocently back at him. He was supposed to scold him, but that adorable smile stopped him from doing so.

Ezra put his hands below Morro's armpits and lifted the small ten year old.

"You're lucky you're so cute you little gremlin!" Morro giggled at this "But I've got just the right punishment for you!"

The black haired looked a little confused.

"Behold my secret weapon!"

Before he could do anything, the hazel haired rolled over so that Morro was below him and began to tickle him. The ten year old laughed uncontrollably.

"T-Tickling! My only-...weakness!" Morro spoke between heavy laughter.

"Do you mind?" Kurumi sat up on the bed, wiping her eyes with a tired smile "You're going to wake everyone up."

Ezra stopped and let Morro breathe.

"What's the time anyway?" Ezra asked Kurumi.

After the question, the teenage girl rolled over to Morro's side of the bed and glanced at the alarm clock.

It was 9am...

Kurumi's smile faded and turned into a state of panic.

"IT'S 9!"

"WHAT!" Morro and Ezra cried out in unison.

Kurumi, Ezra and Morro were recently arriving frequently late to breakfast. This is because the 'alarm function' on their clock stopped working. Their leader, Lucas, didn't take it lightly. He warned them that if they were late one more time, they'd be separated and shoved into many different rooms with other people. None of them wanted that.

Kurumi grabbed her blouse, skirt, shoes and stockings and rushed to the bathroom to change. Ezra changed in the bedroom whilst handing Morro his clothes-supervising him.

When they all finished, they all ran to the kitchen as fast as they could.

"Where WERE you? Breakfast started _half an hour_ ago."

Luckily, people still crowded the hall, but they were either halfway or had almost finished their meal.

Ezra spoke up "We're sorry sir! Our alarm clock's broken and!-

"YOU TOLD ME THAT STORY TWICE THIS WEEK! FIX IT OR I'LL SEPARATE YOU ALL TO OTHER ROOMS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes sir..." They both replied in quiet monotone. Morro was scared of their strict leader, so he stayed silent whilst clutching tightly onto Kurumi's dress.

* * *

The trio sat at a table and ate their fill. Ezra stuffed his face whole whilst Kurumi ate sensibly and attempted to help Morro eat.

"Kurumi! I can feed myself now, I'm not a baby!" The ten year old protested.

"You still can't hold your utensils right; of course I need to help you."

Morro folded his arms and flushed with embarrassment whilst Ezra laughed.

"Whelp, she got you there!"

* * *

" _Good morning to all. We hope you have had a pleasant breakfast. The dining hall will close in five minutes, please leave the dining hall and attend to your duties._ "

"Whelp, there goes the announcement. Come and help me tidy up little gremlin." Ezra clutched onto Morro's hands and cleared away their waste. When they both met up with Kurumi again, they left the dining hall.

After breakfast, everyone in the rebellion had to do a certain job until the start of the evening (4:00pm). Kurumi and Ezra's jobs had a confusing time schedule. Most of the time, assassinations happened at normal working hours-but if the assassination were to be difficult or more serious, they'd be woken up at night.

Morro was clueless as to what they both did. He was told they were fetchers. Kurumi wanted to conserve his innocence as much as possible. His childhood was already ruined as soon as his parents died and this system came into power: why ruin it even more?

"Enjoy your day." His sister gave him a peck on the head as they said goodbye. The boy was about to be left at the nursery, a child-carer stood behind him ready to take him inside.

"I hate it here. The grown-ups are nice but the children are horrible. I don't have any friends either."

"I know I know I'm sorry. But you have to bear with it okay? Ezra and I are really busy and you can't come with us you know, it's dangerous."

Morro nodded with a disappointed expression and allowed the kind lady to take him. Both teenagers waved at him before he disappeared into the doors of the nursery.

* * *

The small child was taken to his class and joined them. He sat down on the table that was full of boys.

"Scram mophead, we sit here!" A rude blond haired boy shouted at him.

"Caleb, mind your manners! He can sit there if he wants to!" A grown-up scolded him.

It was easy to tell that he was the odd one out of his class. When it was teaching period, he would be mocked and sniggered at-but it was okay because the carers were there to stop the abuse when it got out of hand. Lunch break was safe because he could always just sit next to the adults and avoid the children. Breaks were terrible. The adults left the room around this time so the children could do whatever they wanted to him. At first it was just the insults, then they started to become more violent and physical. He hated it. He could never tell the carers because he would be bullied even more, he couldn't tell Kurumi or Ezra because they'd worry. All he could do was suck it up and take it.

After lessons and lunch periods had finished, break had started.

Morro grabbed a book off of the bookshelf and sat in a corner. He hoped that if he hid himself from plain sight, they'd hopefully leave him alone.

He had never been more wrong.

The first five minutes were peaceful, but it wasn't long before someone approached him. A boy with messy ginger hair towered above the child and smirked.

"Why the heck are you reading nerd?"

Morro tried to focus on the book and ignore him.

The boy then snatched the book from him and read the title out loud in a silly voice.

" _Ancient history of Ninjago_!" The ten year old made the entire class laugh "What kind of a boring freak are you?!"

He tossed the book at the other end of the room. He then yanked at Morro's arm and lifted him up.

"Don't think you can ignore me." He turned towards his large group of 'supporters' "Hey boys, what do you think we should do with this creep as punishment?!"

"Let's pound him to a pulp!"

"Rip his clothes!"

"Cut his stupid hair!"

"Those are some good suggestions, but I got something better." He grinned mischievously.

The ten year old then snatched at Morro's neck to reveal the locket in his hands. Kurumi had given it to him a week ago. He had no idea how this boy knew it was there.

"Don't think I didn't notice it!" The boy then opened it "Aw what's this? A stupid baby picture of you and some fancy writing: it looks all girly and yuck! Wouldn't it be a shame if I smashed it to pieces?-"

Before he could finish his worthless sentence, Morro threw a punch at him and snatched the locket out of his hands. The action surprised him, but at the same time, it felt like instinct.

"Do what you want to me, but none of you can touch this locket, EVER." He snarled at them.

The boy put a fist to his mouth and turned around with an angry expression, the long haired child realized that he'd made him bleed. The girls started to join in now too.

"Look what he did!"

"Punch him back, punch him back!"

The red-haired glared at the black haired.

"You're gonna regret what you just did _freak_!" As soon as he said that, three other boys from his group surrounded him.

* * *

The boys had no mercy. Morro only threw one punch; in return, they kicked, scratched and punched him in several areas till he bled. He shouldn't have done that. He had never fought back before, but now because he did, he was being beaten by several boys. He was bullied badly, but it had never reached this kind of level.

After a while, they were finally satisfied and left him hunched on the ground. He had a scratch mark on his arm, bruises on his arms and legs and his stomach hurt like hell.

He then felt something strange move its way upwards

, then he threw up on the floor.

"Ewww!" The girls squealed.

Break had ended by then and the carer taking care of them that day entered the room.

"What on earth is happening here?!" She shouted, seeing a hunched Morro shivering over his pool of vomit.

"Morro was sick miss!" A boy answered.

The carer sighed "Not to worry." She lifted him up and took him to a bathroom. She then called a cleaner to take care of the mess.

As Morro washed his mouth and face in the bathroom sink. He peered at himself in the mirror. He looked awful. He had bags under his eyes and his body was weak and shivery.

At the sight of himself, he quickly locked himself in a cubicle and cried quietly.

He cried for what seemed like hours.

 **WHELP THAT'S THE END. This is kind of a filler chapter, but I can assure you, I'm going to escalate things quite quickly (A lot of events are planned out in my head so don't worry XD) Yes, Morro has bullies (They'll get karma eventually I assure you :3), at this point in time, he's an innocent and fragile child, but the story will later reveal how he became a cold-hearted badass :D (Also, looking back at my really old chapters of The End of Time, I've realized just how much I've improved. I started that story at the beginning of grade 7, so over two years I've improved so much :3) ANYWAYS I'LL TRY AND UPDATE MORE OFTEN, SEE YA~**


	7. The sweet taste of revenge

**Herro! It Christmas, that means three good things, (1) IT'S CHRISTMAS (2) I'm not bombarded with schoolwork (3) Since I'm not going to school I can update my fics more often when I get time XD Hopefully that way you guys will be satisfied and I'LL SEE IF I CAN MAKE UP FOR MY SPACE LENGTH CUZ I'M SO DISORGANIZED :D Anyways, if I don't write a Christmas oneshot then, just to let you know, MERRy cHRiSTmas D ~**

 **Review replies:** **MorroAndJaylynn-WAIT WHAT, DID THAT HAPPEN TO YOU? Ok, I often like to make my characters suffer so I assume they don't happen very much BUT BOI I SWEAR IF YOU WERE BEATEN TILL YOU THREW UP IRL THEN I'D BE VERY CONCERNED :C**

The long haired boy opened the bathroom stall and slowly made his way out. He had washed his face so his tears were practically unnoticeable. He didn't want to let anyone know he had cried.

He was about to start walking towards the assembly hall to meet up with Kurumi and Ezra, it was 4:00pm and they had probably finished their shift by now.

"Oh there you are!" A soft but husked voice echoed out in the large hallway crowded with people. Morro could recognize that voice from anywhere.

"Mrs Maynard?"

He turned around to see the kind old lady sitting in her wheelchair. She had wispy grey hair that was neatly tucked into a bun, she also wore glasses and her clothes were plain but casual. This woman was the leader's mother. She smiled at Morro.

Mrs Sarah Maynard was a kind old lady who was very helpful and kind to the citizens at the rebellion. She would also scold her son when he was being too strict (Which made him flush with embarrassment). Everyone knew and liked her. Morro was particularly close to her as they'd always see each other after school.

"Is school finished now dearie?" She asked.

Morro gave her a slight nod.

"Did you have a nice time?"

 _Nice time?_ The five hours he'd been there was anything but.

He didn't want to think about it but managed to utter out a "Yes."

Her face frowned a little all of a sudden "Oh dear, you have a little scratch mark on your cheek. How on earth did that happen?" She tried to wheel herself forward and gently examine him but he put her arm aside and shook his head.

"It's nothing for you to worry about."

She looked concerned "Morro, you know you can't hide anything from me. I've been visiting you ever since you were five. I only want to help."

The black haired sighed.

"Do you remember when I said I don't enjoy school-those kids and how they tease me all the time?"

"Yes."

He paused.

"They beat me up."

Her face looked distraught "Why would they _do_ such a thing?"

"I don't know!"

He looked at the ground with a hand to his cheek.

"I don't know..."

The lady came up with a resolution "I'll tell the carers, no, with that behaviour I believe your sister or Ezra should be told about this!"

Morro looked up at her in alarm "No, please don't! She's really overprotective, who knows what she'll do!-And...Ezra will probably react the same way..."

"Then so be it. I cannot stand bullies; they are nothing but stupid cowards. I myself had them when I was a little girl."

The ten year old looked surprised "You had them too?"

She sighed "I'm afraid for some people, bullying is just a natural occurrence in life. It really is unfortunate. That's why you should let your sister or Ezra know, I would gladly do something but alas, my legs...Your sister and Ezra however, are fine assa-I-I mean strong teenagers! They'll teach those nuisances a lesson-you'll see. Now come."

Her soft, wrinkly hand took Morro's small and smooth one and began to move her wheelchair towards the assembly hall whilst Morro trailed beside her.

* * *

In the hall, the black haired met up with Kurumi and Ezra. They all embraced tightly, followed by a ruffle of the hair by Ezra. They then saw Mrs Maynard and greeted her too. Ezra even kissed her hand as a play flirt, making Kurumi roll her eyes.

Then we get to the serious part...

* * *

"They WHAT?"

The first person to react was Ezra.

Mrs Maynard brought up the news whilst she allowed Morro to explain in detail. He wasn't...let's just say...eager to recall what had just happened twenty minutes ago.

The hunched woman nodded gravely "I'm afraid so, he's been hiding it from you and I believe that is too much of a burden to bear. Please do something about those nuisances, although, after hearing this, I'm sure you'll do so anyway."

"Morro..."

Ezra, Morro and Mrs Maynard looked at Kurumi who had been surprisingly silent until now.

The black haired child gulped when he saw her scary facial expression. Kurumi was a very serious person enough as it is. If someone ever caused her to make _this_ face however, they were done for.

" _I'd like to pay a visit to your school tomorrow_..."

* * *

The day passed and the next continued like usual. They got up, got dressed, made their way into the dining hall and ate. Mornings were supposed to be relaxing, but today, the air was heavy.

Kurumi and Ezra then made their way to the school, where his sister would be joining them today. Morro suddenly realized that Kurumi was wearing casual clothes and she had dyed her red hair strands completely black.

Kurumi could almost read his expression "So they don't know it's me. Ezra and I are pretty much famous in the rebellion." Of course, she meant the fact that she was the most skilled assassin there. Ezra was included because he was the most skilled after Kurumi and both had started at a young age. She wouldn't mention that to Morro though.

The black haired looked at his sister worriedly.

' _What are you planning?_ ' He thought to himself.

Ezra took Kurumi away from Morro for a quick second.

"You have that knife I gave you when we were kids; you're not planning to kill are you?"

The black haired girl shook her head "No, I only intend to injure the children who beat up Morro. The bystanders will get a different treatment."

"You sure you don't want me to help?"

"Ezra, they're ten year old kids. We have to kill dangerous men and women who are high in power, those kids will be like flies compared to them."

The teenage boy smiled and nodded.

"Alright."

* * *

Morro and his sister walked into the classroom. There was a different woman in charge today and she looked surprised to see Kurumi.

"Um...can I help you miss?"

Kurumi stared at her in a funny way.

"Can I help _you_? I'm teaching this class today. Perhaps you read the schedule wrong."

The woman looked at the schedule. She saw a different name on the list for the class, a woman named 'Elsa Herman'.

"Oh, my apologies Miss Herman!" The woman flushed with embarrassment and quickly left the room.

The carer _was_ supposed to be teaching the class, but Kurumi had messed with the schedule and wrote down a fake name beforehand. Her brother looked at her with a surprised expression: she only winked back at him with a smirk.

* * *

Not only had Kurumi messed with the schedule but she had prepared an entire _lesson_ for them as well. She was surprisingly good at fooling people.

During Kurumi's lesson, the ginger haired boy and the two others who had beaten up Morro smiled menacingly at him from across the room: this had no effect on the black haired boy, in fact, it was the happiest he'd ever been. He ignored them with a confident smile on his face which made the group of boys very confused.

The day passed quite quickly and it was soon break period. Morro remembered that the teacher would often leave the class for their break, but he knew his sister wouldn't let him out of her sight. He waited in anticipation.

The black haired girl cleared her throat "Well done everyone! As you all know, it's break period, so you are free to do whatever you want. I know the teachers normally leave you but I'm staying here to keep an eye on you if that's ok with you."

"What?!" One boy rose out of his seat "But that's not fair!"

It didn't take long for the whole class to erupt into chaos, all except Morro.

The teenage girl remained calm and cleared her throat loudly to silence them.

"I am staying, like it or not. Just because I'm here, it doesn't mean you can't play."

The whole class didn't argue further as it didn't look as if she was up for persuasion. Break period began whilst Kurumi kept watch from afar.

The black haired child went to go walk to the bookshelf to pick out a book. He wasn't interested in wrestling with the boys or gossiping with the girls, reading seemed to be the only enjoyable activity he could do here.

He tried to pick out a book but it didn't seem to want to come out. He tried again but pulled with all of his might, it still didn't work. Morro decided to approach his sister for help.

"Ummm, _Miss Herman_ , could you please help me? There's a book stuck on the shelf that I wanna read."

She nodded with a kind smile and crouched in front of the bookshelf. She then tugged and loosened the book until it finally came out...

...which was a huge mistake.

As soon as Kurumi took the book out, a bucket toppled over from the top of the shelf and fell onto Morro's head. He was drenched entirely.

The same three boys collapsed into laughter eventually leading into the entire class.

"Look at him now, drenched like a wet dog! Why don't you shake your hair like one, it'll help it dry!" The ginger haired spat at him.

The assassin turned around and stood up, Morro could only watch as he shivered near the shelf.

She walked towards the door and barricaded it with a stick. The laughter silenced itself as they watched her.

Then, without warning, Kurumi threw her knife into a boomeranged circle causing the entire class to scream. The knife returned to her hands and the class stared at her in confusion...until their hair fell off.

One by one, their top hairs gracefully swayed to the ground leaving the children's upper scalp completely bald.

The boys yelled and screamed whilst the girls cried and mourned their hair.

"SHUT UP!"

After the assassin yelled the screaming turned into pathetic whimpering.

"I want all of you to answer my question; otherwise I'm going to do a lot more than just cut your hair." She snarled at them, the fearful whimpering continued.

"Who beat up Morro yesterday?"

No answer.

" _Who beat up Morro yesterday_?!"

Finally, the children pointed to the three boys and stepped away from them. They trio shook in terror.

The ginger boy spoke up in a loud tremble "N-No they're lying! We didn't do it!"

The older sibling turned towards the younger one "Is this true?"

Morro hesitantly nodded.

The boys screamed and attempted to run away but Kurumi caught up to them and held their collars into the air. She then took out her knife and gave one clean and diagonal slash on their faces.

The black haired let go of them as they hunched on the ground and screamed in agony, small droplets of blood dripped onto the floor. The children screamed too but in fear.

"If any of you even _try_ to hurt Morro again, I'll cut off your hands so you won't be able to hit with them again, _understand_?"

Of course she was just over exaggerating to scare them, but she certainly wouldn't let them get away unscathed.

The children nodded quickly.

Kurumi un-barricaded the door and opened it.

"Then get out of my sight."

They screamed and ran out of the classroom until the only two people left were Morro and Kurumi.

She turned towards her brother "Are you okay? You're completely drenched..."

Morro stared at her with a shocked expression.

"That was..."

His mouth broke into an excited smile and his eyes became starry.

"...AWESOME!"

Kurumi relaxed a little and chuckled.

"Geez, I mean where do I start? You were so scary but you were so badass at the same time!"

"Hey, hey language." She gently reminded him.

"Sorry, but still! You were awesome! Did you see their faces?! I bet you fight bad guys all the time to be THAT amazing!"

Kurumi sheepishly smiled "No, I'm just a fetcher Morro, nothing special."

That was a definite lie.

* * *

Kurumi and Morro greeted Ezra and returned to their room. As soon as they did, the hazel haired sat down on the bed with Morro and Kurumi beside him.

"I want you to tell me everything!" He told Morro "This is going to be so satisfying to hear!"

Morro excitedly began telling him the events that unfolded earlier. Kurumi's disguise, the bucket and the shelf, the children, when all their hair fell off and the boys getting slashed in the face: everything was told in great detail.

After his story, it was decided that Morro wouldn't be attending class anymore and to arrange for a carer to come and teach him privately.

 **You have no idea how satisfying it was to write this oml XD Anyways, now that the bullies are dealt with and I've gotten the story going, I think I'm gonna start getting to the actual plot and events and also switching to Kurumi again to actually get a taste of her daily life and what she hides from Morro. Also, clue for what's gonna happen next chapter, Morro's going to make his first friend...at least that's what he thinks- OK I'VE SAID TOO MUCH BAI MERRY CHriSTmAs~ *Flees***


	8. Simon

**Happy new year everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas :D (This is very late but whO CaRes) Sorry I haven't updated, I was on a vErY UNEXpEcTed Hiatus, I was completely overloaded with homework and teachers rambling non-stop about options for GCSE. I've had a GREAT week ;u; Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter ~**

Morro was left alone in his shared room. At 10:00am he was due to attend a private session with a Carer. Ezra had a word with Lucas-who then sighed and agreed that it was best if he didn't go to school with the others anymore.

He was away from school, he didn't have to see those kids anymore...so why was he feeling so unsatisfied?

Actually, the answer was obvious.

He was bored.

He didn't like being left alone.

Being taught privately was embarrassing.

He was worried about his options.

In three days, Morro and other ten year olds would have to be tested on the different jobs, exactly how Kurumi and Ezra had done before. He was dreading it. In his opinion, he wasn't really good at anything. If he didn't succeed, then he'd be kicked out, Kurumi and Ezra would be heartbroken.

He sat up from the bed and gave himself a light slap on the cheeks. He shouldn't worry about things he can't do anything about, just hope for the best when the day arrives.

With that, the ten year old left the room to go explore until his session. He had half an hour after all.

* * *

Fetchers.

They were second to head out after the assassins.

The group of men and women gathered in front of the entrance and talked whilst they waited for the rest of their team to come.

The boy suddenly came to a realization.

Ezra and Kurumi were fetchers!

He scanned his eyes among the group, but couldn't see his sister or Ezra (Although, it was a very big crowd). Morro wanted to take a closer look, but if he did, he'd probably be late.

Screw it.

The ten year old made his way through the crowd and called out.

"Kurumi, Ezra! Where are you?!"

Try as he might, he couldn't find them.

He should've probably given up; it had been a complete waste of time. How could he be so stupid?

"Alright, your shift starts now! Move it!"

A man with a deep voice announced to the group, they began to start walking towards the entrance. The black haired child was dragged along as it was such a big crowd.

"Hey, wait! Let me through! I'm not supposed to be here!"

The child squeezed through and finally broke through the crowd of people. He ran towards the entrance door as fast as he could...only to have it shut right in his face.

Morro worriedly looked behind him to see that the fetchers had already left.

The ten year old's heart began to beat wildly. Nobody else went outside except for the assassins and the fetchers; no one would come for at least six hours.

Interrupting his worries, he finally realised that there was a sound coming from above.

Another child?

Looking upwards, he saw a drain cover. Next to him was a ladder...oddly convenient.

Curiosity got the better of him as he grabbed the ladder and tilted it towards the cover.

* * *

The middle aged man felt a sharp object poise at his neck, tension pulsed like a palpable heartbeat.

"W-What are you doing?..." He breathed nervously.

"I'm not your daughter you fool, I slaughtered her ten minutes ago. Sorry for your loss Richard Merridew." An unemotional voice, much different to his daughter, suddenly spoke out.

He shivered, tears flowed down his eyes.

"What do you want from me you disgusting fiend?..." He wavered angrily.

"You bought poor females of all ages to sell as sex slaves and for your own disgusting uses. I'm here to assassinate you...any last words?"

He breathed heavily.

"F**k...you...!" He shouted in a wavered breath

Kurumi sliced his throat and held his head against the chair to stop him from resisting. The man hacked and gulped as he struggled against her. It took only a few seconds for his arms to drop.

He was dead.

The teenager released his head from her grip. She walked towards the window and opened it; she then slid herself out of the gap and climbed down with her knife.

Ezra was waiting for her at the bottom.

"Did you kill him?"

"Yeah I did; you killed the guards right?"

The sixteen year old boy nodded.

"Justice feels good. I might sound like a complete psychopath, but killing these people kind of makes me feel better about our situation. They may be killing the poor, but we're killing the rich too." He smirked.

The fifteen year old smiled and nodded in agreement.

Ezra decided to change the subject "Alright then Ku, let's get to the sewers, we had a meeting spot with the other assassins remember?"

"Yes we did, also please stop calling me that _stupid_ nickname."

"Sorry Ku."

"What did I JUST say?!"

* * *

Morro pushed at the drain cover with all of his might: the metal slab was a lot heavier than he imagined. His ladder wobbled as he struggled against the heavy metal. Heights didn't bother him, but if he was endangered in one, naturally he was afraid.

He tried one more time and gave one big push: the drain cover finally slid off which took him by surprise. He fell forward onto the ground above him-his ladder fell.

The long-haired child held on for dear life with his arms on the gravel. He clumsily scrambled upwards and made it to the top. He panted whilst on his hands and knees whilst shivering.

Wind.

Morro came to a sudden realization that he was _actually_ outside.

He was on a road in the middle of a marketplace. Salesmen were yelling, asking people to buy their goods. Elegant looking people with the most beautiful clothes walked through the streets. On the road there were: carts, bicycles and horses being ridden. The sky was cloudy and a strong wind blew against his face.

He had never felt more excited in his life.

He was actually outside!

Ever since he had entered the rebellion, he hadn't been outside since. In fact, unless you were a fetcher or an assassin, _no one_ went outside. The early parts of his life where he _had_ been outside felt like a dream, but now, NOW he was finally free!

Kurumi and Ezra had always told him why the outside was bad: they had said that the people were horrible and treat poor like scum.

"They lied. They always go outside so it's okay for them, but _not me_."

Morro discovered that he had spoken aloud and was surprised at himself.

"Hello?"

The child flinched and looked behind him in panic. It was a little boy who was around the same height as him; he had black hair which was in a bowl cut and black eyes. He was wearing sensible blue pants, shiny black shoes and a blue sweater. It was obvious he was the son of a rich family.

"Hello..." Morro replied dumbly. He had never spoken to any rich people before. There was the master from before but he never saw him or spoke to him. This boy did not match the description told to him many times before about the rich. What he had said about Kurumi and Ezra was just said in the moment but...was he actually right?

"...Are you rich?"

The boy looked puzzled.

"I suppose I am. Are you poor?"

"I guess."

There was an awkward silence for a moment or two.

"...My mommy and daddy said poor people are bad. They steal and scare people because they're selfish. Is that true?"

"No...Why did they say that?"

"Because poor people are 'infeeror': I don't know what that means but my daddy said that."

" _Inferior_. It means that the person isn't powerful and there are people better than them in all sorts of different ways." Morro explained "...I don't think that's true. It's not our fault we're like this."

"Wow, for someone who's poor, you're very smart. Normally poor people are stupid."

Morro grit his teeth "Did your stupid _daddy_ say that too?! What kind of society do you live in?!"

The short haired boy looked surprised.

"You know what my sister and Ezra said?" He began sarcastically "That all of you have no concern for poor people and treat us like scum! I don't even need to ask you whether that's true or not because so far you've proven that true!"

The black haired child turned away from him and frowned.

"If you despise poor people so much, why are you talking to one?"

The boy stayed silent for a while.

"What does 'despise' mean?"

The ten year old sighed "It means to dislike or hate. Don't you have a school to teach you these things?"

"Yeah...but we don't get taught words like that. The words you use are like mommy and daddy's. Anyways, I'm talking to you because I want to find out more about poor people. I don't know why you think I'm wrong. You may not be like the rest of them, but poor people in general are bad. If the grown-ups say so then it's definitely right, you can't say it's wrong because grown-ups are never wrong."

"You're very stupid and naive you know that..."

"No I'm not!"

"Adults won't always be right, they make mistakes, we all do. I don't know why you look up to them so much. Then again, you were brought up well and you must put a lot of faith in your parents...I'm not surprised."

Once again there was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"What's your name?"

"Morro...you?"

"Simon."

Morro stood up.

"I should get going, go back into your house and don't follow me. If you even dare then you can never go home _again_ , understood?"

The boy sniffled and teared up a little.

"W-Why are you crying?..."

"Why are you so mean?..." Simon snivelled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"I'm not mean! You should listen to yourself! What your parents say about us are lies."

"...Will I ever see you again? My parents wouldn't want you anywhere near me, but I still want to talk to you."

Morro was a little taken aback. He stared at Simon with perplexed eyes.

"Ok fine...but my family wouldn't like it either. Let's just...meet at the alleyway outside your house-where we are now. You can't tell anyone about me, if you don't I'll keep visiting you and you can ask me about poor people."

"Okay!"

The boy rushed forward and hugged Morro who awkwardly held his arms up, startled. He was also not a huge fan of hugs.

"W-Why are you hugging me?! Didn't your _daddy_ tell you that poor people could be dirty? You were being horrible earlier too!"

"I'm sorry, maybe I was wrong. I realize now that grown-ups aren't always right. So tell me the truth and I won't make the same mistake again, okay?"

The long haired child sighed. Maybe he had been a little harsh, Simon had grew up with his parents spouting this nonsense at him, of course he would believe those things at first.

"Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Simon went back indoors and Morro lowered himself into the drainpipes.

Maybe that private session could be useful after all...

 **Yay! Morro has a new friend(?)! I hope I don't get busy again so I can update more often! Sorry for the huge time gap :C**


	9. Reconsideration

**Hello! This will be a really short author's note but just gonna tell you why I wasn't posting last week. It was my older brother's birthday at the weekend and we were celebrating-so from now on I'll try to keep it regular again ;u;**

"So...why are you poor?"

"Ok, I said you could ask questions but this is getting ridiculous."

The two boys looked across from each other, both sat on the ground this time. It was raining so the ground was cold and wet, not to mention it was stone. Simon, regardless, sat down anyway which surprised Morro.

Morro had now visited Simon five times. He felt bad that he had lied repeatedly to his sister about going to the session-luckily the carer hadn't said anything about him never showing up, so he was safe for the moment.

"I don't know why I'm poor; I was just born into it."

"Hey, you said you had a sister right? Don't you have a mom and dad?"

"I don't want to talk to about that."

"But _somebody_ must be looking after you. Only parents do that, if you don't have a mom and dad then...how do you-?"

" _They're dead._ "

Simon stared at Morro with shocked eyes; the long-haired child averted his gaze-staring at the ground.

Simon tensed up in sympathy "No mom and dad...when did they die?"

"Stop asking these questions! I thought you wanted to find out about _poor people_ not my _past_!"

"Ok!...I'm sorry, but...last question about you, I promise!"

"...What?"

"Who looks after you?"

"My sister and brother...well he's not really my brother but I've always thought of him as one...They're the only people I've ever held close to my heart-mom and dad too but...as much as I love them, remembering them makes me feel sad..."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"No. I've never liked anyone my age."

"What about me?" The short haired boy smiled sweetly in hope that he'd be an exception.

"You may not be mean, but you're definitely annoying that's for sure."

"That's not nice!" Simon puffed up his cheeks trying to look mad but only made himself look like a baby.

Morro tried to keep a straight face but his mouth gave in and he began to laugh. Simon looked at the commoner with a frustrated but innocent expression.

"I can't help that I have a baby face! My mommy always talks about how 'cute' I am! Well one day I'll be fierce and strong and no one will ever call me _cute_ again!"

This only made the other ten year old laugh even harder.

"Why are you laughing?!"

Morro finally recomposed himself "I'm sorry, no one could _ever_ take you seriously with _that_ face!"

"Are you always this rude?!"

"I'm not being rude it's a fact-accept your cuteness." Morro smirked.

Footsteps.

The boys quickly turned around to see a shadow appear at the window.

"Simon?" A feminine voice called.

"Hide!" Simon hissed.

Morro didn't even think twice before he scampered away quickly and hid behind the trash cans. The door quickly opened.

It revealed to be a maid holding a broom. Her face turned to utter shock seeing the short haired child on the cold, wet floor.

"Simon, why on _earth_ are you outside without a raincoat?! And why are you sitting on the floor?! Oh my goodness, you'll have hypothermia in no time!"

She pulled Simon up by both arms and quickly pulled him indoors. The door closed within a few seconds.

The ten year old stood up from his crouching position and approached the drain cover. He heaved the metal slab away from the hole and climbed down towards the underground tunnel.

 _That was probably the quickest conversation he'd ever had with Simon._

* * *

Morro snuck out with the crowd of fetchers and ran back to his room as quickly as he could. He then swung the door open and panted at the doorway in front of Kurumi and Ezra.

"Sorry I'm late!..." He breathed.

"Why are these sessions of yours so long?" The hazel-haired asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know...she says that I need it."

"Well we kinda waited for you so we could go to the dining hall and eat dinner you know?"

Kurumi thought of a suggestion "Maybe I should talk to her-"

"NO!"

The two teenagers stared at the long haired child in front of them in a surprised and confused way.

"Umm...I-I mean, she's a REALLY busy person and she doesn't have time! I'll tell her myself so don't worry!"

"Well okay...but you didn't have to shout at us like that. You took us by surprise."

"I'm sorry Kurumi; I don't know why I did that! Wow...boy am I hungry, let's get dinner okay?"

Morro rushed to the door and awaited the two eagerly with a smile. The boy and girl looked at each other strangely before Ezra shrugged and joined Morro.

Kurumi stared at her little brother.

"Are you okay? You've been acting strange for the past week, is something wrong?"

Her brother shook his head "Nope!"

"Are you sure?"

Morro nodded quickly.

She decided to concede and sighed "Fine, but if something's bothering you please tell us."

* * *

The three were sat at a table and ate.

Today they were having udon. The three slurped happily from their bowls.

 **(Udon is basically noodles but really thick, it's a Japanese food :D)**

"The udon's really springy!" Morro muffled whilst chewing rapidly.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, we're very lucky to have nice food like this. Thanks to the rich who don't have corrupt minds, we have all this fresh food. The fetchers of course take it back for us and the cooks make it into a delicious meal. I expected the food to be gruel or something-like the food we had back when we were at the mansion."

"Don't remind me." Ezra shivered "We could bear it because we got used to it, now that I'm eating proper food, I realize just how revolting that gruel was."

"Hey, can I ask you guys something?"

Ezra and Kurumi looked at the little boy.

"Sure." Ezra shrugged.

"Are all rich people bad?"

Kurumi shook her head "Not all. Some are secretly against the government; they're the reason why we have nice food. But that's very rare, so mostly no."

"If I was friends with a rich boy, would you not like it?"

"No...No I wouldn't. Most of the kids are horrible, they may also tell their parents all about you-and you know how that'd end wouldn't you?"

Morro nodded slowly.

"Why do you ask?"

Morro shrugged "I was just curious."

All of a sudden, Ezra firmly put his hands on Morro's shoulders.

"E-Ezra?" The boy stuttered. Ezra's facial expression when he was serious was enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Don't you _ever_ think of going outside. You may meet some child and think they're nice, but they _aren't_. You can't trust _anybody_ out there because you never know what they could do to you. Never forget that you're poor, and in this city, being poor is a sin and that puts you at a great risk- _do you understand_?"

Morro nodded quickly.

"Good."

Suddenly Ezra's face lit up as if nothing had happened.

"Well I see we've all finished, so let's return to our room and get to sleep, ok?"

The two siblings nodded in response.

The three stood up and began to head out.

"Hey, are you okay little gremlin? You don't seem like yourself." Ezra asked.

Morro cleared his throat and smiled.

"I'm okay."

 _But he wasn't okay._

 _Because he knew he had already disobeyed Ezra's warning._

 **This chapter isn't that great because I kinda rushed it, I'm sorry if it disappointed any of you but it's all I can do for now ;A;**

 **Edit: Also I don't think fanfiction is letting me upload chapters, AaaaAAAH ;_;**


	10. A terrible mistake

**Hello! I don't have much to say on the author's notes but happy Valentine's Day! I didn't write a valentines special because I was so busy, but today I have a lot of free time so I may as well update :D Hope you enjoy~**

 **Warning: Death, blood and slight gore.**

Morro lifted himself onto the top of the ladder and pushed the drain cover with all of his might...until it was magically pushed off by itself.

"Hello!" Simon stuck his face into the hole to greet his friend.

The long haired boy was startled and almost slid back down into the tunnel before Simon caught him with two hands.

"Simon you scared me!"

The short haired boy smiled sheepishly "Sorry...Here."

Simon pulled his friend towards the surface. They then slouched on the stone ground and panted in exhaustion.

"How long were you here?..." Simon puffed up his cheeks randomly.

"About fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?!"

"Oh come on, I was bored and I was too excited to talk to you again!"

Morro slid his hands against his face and groaned.

"We see each other _every afternoon_."

"So?"

Simon decided to sit up and stretch out his legs, he then placed Morro's head on his lap and began to play with his hair.

The ten year old looked at his friend from below with an eyebrow raised "What are you doing?"

"Playing with your hair, I always wondered why it was so long. Don't you have scissors?"

"Yes, but I don't want to cut it. I think it looks better like this." Morro smirked "But if it gets way too long then Kurumi cuts it back into shape."

"I go to the hairdresser every Saturday, so my hair doesn't get long."

"What do you expect, you're rich you posh snob!"

"Hey!"

Simon tugged at Morro's hair.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for calling me a 'posh snob' meanie!"

Morro giggled in defeat "Fine, okay."

The two sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Not an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. Morro stared up at the sky, feeling the refreshing wind blow against his cheeks and the sun's rays illuminate his sight. Simon intertwined his fingers into Morro's black, silk strands. The two's visits had started to become more and more frequent. By every visit, Morro had become comfortable with Simon which was something he had never expected. When the boy admitted that he finally thought of Simon as a friend with a glowing blush, Simon cheered and tackle hugged Morro (Who scolded him, but he secretly didn't mind).

Finally, Morro broke the silence.

"Hey can I talk to you? Keep playing with my hair though, it feels nice." Simon smiled.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"In the shelter, once we turn ten, after a few months we take this test. Everyone is supposed to have different jobs to contribute with, unless you're younger than ten-it's an early age but they need a lot of help. Anyways, my test was due two weeks ago because I decided to skip it. They only repeat the tests for three weeks. If you fail, or if you miss all of the tests, you get kicked out of the rebellion. I don't really want to do the test, but at the same time I don't want to get kicked out. If I do the test then I won't get to see you anymore, I'll probably stop having free time. What do you think I should do?"

Simon puffed his cheeks up and tried to look mad "Morro, you shouldn't miss out. Take the test, having a place to live is more important than seeing me. Besides, we could always just decide on another time to meet."

He nodded "Good point. You're right. I just wanted a second opinion that's all."

"Hey! I have an idea!"

Morro looked upwards to face Simon.

"Why don't we go to the town centre, it's beautiful and I have so much to show you!"

The long haired child gulped "Umm...Simon, you can go ahead but I can't be seen in the streets, I'm poor."

"Only if you _look_ like you're poor! Here, come inside. Don't worry, the servants are having their lunch outside and my parents are working. No one will know!"

"Don't you have slaves or something? Most rich households have them."

"My parents get them temporarily sometimes-especially if they're having one of their stupid 'parties' or fancy dinners."

Simon gently took his friend's hand and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. The first room they appeared into was the kitchen. Simon took him further into the house, which met the two with an extravagant hall, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Paintings and a clock decorated the walls and chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

"Come on, my room is this way!"

Simon took him towards a large spiral staircase until they reached the second floor. Morro was met with a landing, just as beautiful as the hallway downstairs.

Morro's friend opened a door which revealed a bedroom. It was a typical little boy's bedroom. Blue everywhere, toys, racing cars: you name it. Only this was huge. He even had his own bathroom, also decorated in a similar way to his room. Not to mention the queen-sized bed-the bed frame was also a racing car!

"My room is comfortable, cosy and all, but your room is amazing!" Morro stared in awe of the room, taking in every detail.

"I know right! The only benefit of having posh, rich parents is that you get cool stuff! Other than that they suck." Morro stared at his friend, perplexed.

"Really? Why? Weren't you admiring them a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, but now I know the truth about poor people. Not to mention they never really looked after me as _parents_ now that I think about it, they just relied on the servants to take care of me. They even hired a wet nurse to breastfeed me as a baby!"

"A _wet nurse_? But they were used in the olden days!"

"Some rich parents still like to use them for their babies, including mine." Simon sighed "Anyway, come on! We have to get you to look good remember?!"

"Oh yeah."

The short haired began to go through his wardrobe and throw random clothes on the bed.

"Here! Put these on!"

The ten year old hesitantly took of his clothes, leaving out his underwear. He then got dressed into Simon's clothes. His outfit consisted of a black waistcoat, a white, long-sleeved shirt, a blue pair of pants, white socks and smart black shoes.

"Perfect! Now let's sort out your hair!"

Morro ran his fingers through the strands protectively "You won't cut it will you?"

"No, silly! I just want brush and style it."

"I'm not a girl you know..."

"Trust me! You won't look like one, I'm not an expert at hairdressing anyway, it'll be simple."

Simon once again pulled Morro to another set of stairs. The third floor's landing was similar, but there were now a few photo frames as well. Then Simon took him to another bedroom.

"This is my parent's room."

The room was elegant and mostly made up of brown and cream colours. The bed frame was made from red mahogany and above hung a beige canopy. Not to mention the bed was unnecessarily long and wide. The quilt and pillows were cream coloured. There was also a dressing table, probably made from rosewood and a flowery mirror in front of it. Morro was pretty sure there was also an en-suite in the room, but Simon dragged him to the dressing table before he could check.

"We're here to do your hair not lead you on a house tour!" He reminded him.

Morro sat at the dressing stool and Simon began to brush his hair. The brush went through the black and green strands with ease, not a single tangle.

Simon looked surprised "Wow...your hair is surprisingly smooth. I thought you never brushed it."

Morro chuckled "Well...yes, _I_ wouldn't, but Kurumi brushes it every morning for me."

"Your sister sounds like your mommy now that I think about it!"

"Sometimes it feels as if she is, but obviously I mostly think of her as a sister."

Simon grabbed a hair band and tied Morro's hair back firmly, but not too tight. The hairs poking out at the very back were few in number.

Simon led his friend to a mirror.

"Wow! I look as if I've been rich my whole life!"

"See! Now let me grab a shopping bag to put your old clothes in-so it looks like we're carrying food, we can't leave it _here_."

...

The two walked together through the streets; Morro carried the shopping bag in his left hand.

Simon pointed "Hey look, there's a fruit stand! Wanna get something?"

Morro shrugged "Sure."

Simon grabbed a pear whilst Morro took a golden apple. The two took a bite of the delicious fruit, smiling at each other with their mouths full.

"Oi!"

The two turned around to see a chubby, middle-aged man with a beard.

"I hope you're paying for them fruit!" He yelled.

"Oh yeah! I forgot we have to pay for these things! Normally my parents get it for me, so I'm not used to paying for myself!" Simon hissed into Morro's ear.

"Are you paying or not! I ain't playing nice if you don't got no money!"

Simon gulped "Sorry...sir, we don't have any money on us. I could go back to my house and get some if you'd like?"

"You'd just run away you lying scoundrel! You two are poor ain't ya?! Probably stole these clothes from a rich house: thieving crooks! I have every bloody right to kill 'youse right now!"

He snatched Simon's hands and raised a butcher's knife at Simon's wrist, the child screamed in fear.

Suddenly, Morro kicked at the man's face and made him drop the knife as he yelled in pain. Morro quickly swiped if off of the ground.

"Run!"

Now Morro grabbed Simon's hand and pulled him along, only much quicker. He could hear the man yelling and screaming behind them.

A loud shot ran through the air, Morro looked behind him to see two policeman shooting at them with rifles.

"They have rifles!"

"WHAT?! We just took an apple and a pear, why are they doing this?!"

"Because they'll do anything to poor people, didn't I tell y-?!"-

The two then skidded to a halt. Dead end. The platform lead to a steep drop-it wouldn't have killed them but it would've for certain badly injured the two. The ground beneath them was a field of grass.

"What do we do?!" Simon asked his friend in a panic.

However, before Morro could reply, another gunshot rang through the air and hit behind Simon's ankle. Simon startled, fell forwards and tumbled onto the ground below.

His body hit the ground with a thud, only he didn't get up.

Morro's breath wavered in quiet shock.

"SIMON!" He called out in worry. To make matters worse, vicious barking could be heard from behind him. A police dog?!

Morro allowed himself to slide downwards onto the steep cliff and reach the ground. The first thing he did was shake the boy.

"Simon! SIMON!"

He didn't wake up.

Morro turned his friend's body around. His entire face was covered in blood.

Dreading the worst outcome, Morro put an ear to the boy's mouth.

Breathing.

Morro nervously laughed in relief, but Simon was still unconscious. He could bring his friend to his own home, clean his wound and leave him there to wake up. But what if it wasn't just a wound? What if he was slowly bleeding to death and needed medical attention as soon as possible?

He had no choice but to bring him to the rebellion shelter.

A sharp, pressuring pain could suddenly be felt on his arm.

"AAAaaaAAAGh!" He screamed in agony.

To his horror, the dog had made its way towards him and was biting deeply into his arm; blood was trickling from its sinking teeth. The dog pushed Morro to the ground and began growling through its teeth.

Morro grit _his_ teeth with tears of pain and fought back, he put his leg up and kicked at the animal's stomach. It flinched, but then bit harder, causing more blood to spurt from the wound. He screamed once again.

He was reminded of the weapon he had stolen from the marketplace and realized the knife had been knocked beside him; he reached for it with an outstretched hand in desperation...until it was kicked out of his reach.

A policeman smiled at Morro maliciously.

"Killing a dog, well that's not nice _is it now_?" He mocked him sarcastically "Seeing as he won't kill you, I guess I'll have to do it myself." He grinned evilly as he took out a shotgun and aimed it at the bloodstained child.

A gunshot fired and Morro winced with closed eyes...was he...dead?

The long haired child looked up to see blood spurting out of the guard's throat. He gurgled blood for only a mere second before he collapsed onto the grass. His killer stood behind, still holding a gun. The police dog was then kicked by the neck, releasing its grip on Morro's arm and skidding onto the grass. It whimpered pathetically before another gunshot sounded, putting it out of its misery.

He couldn't help but sympathise for the animal and shook nervously, seeing the dead guard and his dog.

He then saw his arm. It was a mess of blood and flesh and was bleeding like mad. He stared in horror, holding back the urge to throw up.

A whole group of men and women came, all equipped with weapons. One woman was carrying Simon's limp body, bridal style. They were...from the rebellion! They must've been assassins!

"You okay kid? We're taking you and your little friend back to our base, everything's going to be alright-"

Morro turned around, only to see two familiar faces.

"MORRO?!" Kurumi and Ezra yelled in confusion and worry.

The ten year old's sight began to fade as he collapsed to the ground and slipped out of consciousness.

 **WeLL DeN~**


	11. Confrontation

**Herro! I'm off schedule (Again) ;u; Also I've got my own computer so I can update more often without having my family occupying it all the time (Which is why I didn't upload last week, I've forgotten whether it was just that week or for two weeks...eh) but I have to get a mousepad because my mouse doesn't work on my table so I won't start properly using my computer until maybe next week. Anyways, hope you enjoy!**

"Aah!"

Morro jumped and sat up on his bed in a flash. He breathed heavily in his position.

Was everything just now...a dream?

A muffled sigh could be heard from his left. Morro looked to see his sister asleep at his bed, only she was sitting on a chair and leaning onto the bed using her arms as a pillow. Ezra was also sat at a chair but against the wall, his legs were spread wide and his head turned back, snoring slightly.

The child looked at his bed to see himself covered with a thin, blue duvet instead of the comfy, beige duvet on his own bed.

He was in the MTF-initials for Medical Treatment Facility. That was where the hired medical experts worked: doctors, surgeons, dentists-you name it.

"M-Morro?..."

In response, Morro looked to his right to the voice's source.

It was Simon.

The child rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"Where am I?..."

His head, knees and elbows were wrapped with bandages-there were little traces of blood showing on most of them, he hadn't been badly hurt at least.

 _So it wasn't a dream..._

"Simon!" He called.

He tried to lift himself out of bed, but everything began to ache, especially his arm.

"What...happened to you?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Simon gestured to the mirror.

Morro too had bandages in the exact same areas as Simon, but his arm was an exception. It was fully covered with a cast.

"That dog..." Simon stared at him.

"What?"

Ezra was now awake yawning loudly at his chair, Kurumi's eyelids opened at the noise.

"Ezra, do you mind?" She scolded him, half asleep.

"What? I just woke up! Can't a man yawn in peace?" He pouted.

Kurumi sighed, she turned to her younger brother and her expression changed to a look of concern from a worried mother.

"Hey goofball, how are you feeling?"

"...Ok I guess. My arm hurts."

"Well no kidding, that dog roughed you up pretty good, and if we hadn't been there that officer would've shot the hell out of you."

"Wait what? I'm so confused! A dog attacked you?"

The three turned to Simon whose bed was positioned next to Morro's.

"Oh yeah, you were involved as well." Ezra recalled "What's your name?"

"Simon."

"Cool. This little gremlin's name is Morro, he's shy and a bit cold at first but-"

"I know."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at him.

"But you just met him yesterday; didn't he try to save you from those policemen?"

"Well...no. I've known Morro for a long time now, and we were both being chased by the police."

Kurumi stared at Morro with threatening eyes "So this is what you've been doing for the past month instead of showing up to the sessions. Don't think we don't know. We went straight to your carer when you went missing-she said you never showed up to a single session. Tell me the truth young man, just _what_ were you doing outside?! You know it's dangerous!"

Ezra and Kurumi looked at him expectantly.

"...Yeah, I lied. Simon and I meeting was a complete accident though. Last month I saw a huge group of fetchers, I thought you guys were there so I wanted to say hi before you left. I spent way too long and ended up getting mixed with the crowd, I was trapped in the tunnel. I came outside through the drain and saw Simon outside. We started talking and we just kept meeting up over and over again. I hate being stuck indoors all the time, and even though the outside is dangerous, I miss it...you guys wouldn't understand since you go outside _every day_."

The two stared at him, a little surprised.

"Not to mention you're liars! I know what you _really_ do. It explains everything: you weren't in the fetcher group last month _and_ you were with assassins yesterday. You lied to me didn't you? You're not going outside and getting supplies, you're KILLING people! Don't try to hide it from me just because I'm ten!"

The room fell silent.

Both of them didn't know what to say.

Kurumi spoke up "I'm sorry...I-We thought that you were way too young to understand, and _I_ thought that you'd hate us for it."

"Plus, we didn't want you to do the same job when you do _your_ assessment. We don't enjoy our job-sure it's revenge-but it's not enjoyable." The teenage boy added.

"I know...I just wish you'd been honest. Just because you do it, doesn't mean I'll suddenly want to."

The black haired girl sighed "I understand."

The door opened and a doctor and nurse entered the room, Lucas followed from behind.

"How are you doing boys?" The doctor asked the two.

The woman put her hand on Simon's forehead to check his temperature; she did the same for Morro.

"You're still injured but your wounds are only minor, you should be good to go." She turned to the green streaked boy "Morro needs to stay here for a few more days so we can keep an eye on his arm."

"What happened to Morro's arm madam?" Simon asked politely.

"A German shepherd bit and tore into it, he had such a deep wound that his bone cracked. We needed to disinfect his arm, stitch it and put it into a cast. But he'll be ok." She smiled.

"We need to talk about your accommodation little boy." Lucas remarked "I don't know who you are but you were being attacked by police, so you're poor. I'm Lucas Maynard, leader of this rebellion, that's 'Sir' to you. You'll be living here from now on."

Morro bit his lip nervously.

"I'm living...here? But what about my parents? They haven't been too good to me but I don't want them to worry either, that is if they do..." He trailed off.

"Well sorry, we can't go on a wild goose chase for them. You're on your own I'm afraid; I'll make sure you have a roommate who'll look out for you."

"I shouldn't even be here. I'm sorry for wasting your time, but I should get going. My nurse is expecting me for-"

"Shut up!" Morro hissed.

The doctor, nurse, Lucas, Kurumi and Ezra all stared at his friend.

"Did you just say...Nurse?" The _medical_ nurse questioned.

"Yeah! He's a slave at the mansion above us; he has a nurse who monitors him. But when she goes outside he comes outside and talks to-"

Simon shushed him and shook his head.

"I can't lie; I'm not poor so I don't deserve help or anything. In fact, I'm rich. My parents are one of the richest in my area. We have servants, and occasionally, slaves work for us. I'd love to stay here, but someone like me shouldn't be here. Thank you for the bandages though." He answered politely.

The whole room stared at Simon in utter shock.

"You're... _rich_? D-Did I hear that correctly?" The doctor stuttered.

"That explains the clothes..." Ezra muttered. He changed his tone of voice and turned to Morro "You're telling me that your _friend_ is the son of a rich family whom YOU decided to trust for God knows what?! Do you realise who he is?! He could've KILLED you Morro, what were you THINKING?!"

"Calm down _Kizakura_. This problem can be solved easily. We can't let him go back otherwise we're not safe with someone like _him_ knowing about us. So this is our only option."

"So, we're going to have a rich boy live with us?" The nurse guessed.

"No, don't be ridiculous."

The leader pulled out a pistol from his pocket and pointed it straight at Simon's head.

Morro's irises decreased in size, his pupils began to shake violently.

"NOOOO!" He screamed.


	12. Consequences

**Hey guys I'm on vacation and I feel bad about not updating last week since we were packing. We don't have any internet connection for the first week at least so I can't post at the moment but I'm gonna write as many chapters as I can so I can post all of them once I get back. I'll be gone for two weeks and I'll be back home once I've posted this :) Anyways, enjoy!**

Morro rushed up towards Lucas and quickly grabbed hold of the pistol; he aimed the gun towards the floor. The short haired man, in alarm, pulled the trigger at Morro's sudden outburst. There was a loud bang and a bright flash. The bullet that had just been fired rolled away as soon as it hit the ground. The floor was made of hard stone tiles so it had been ineffective.

"Morro! WHAT did you DO?!" Lucas yelled at an incredible volume.

"I...I-..."

He wasn't even sure himself. His body had moved all by itself.

"LUCAS WHAT THE HELL!"

The teenage boy protectively surrounded the child. Kurumi took the gun and aimed it at the young man's forehead.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger." She threatened with gritted teeth.

Lucas could only stand there silently. His breathing grew heavy but he tried to keep his composure. He was supposed to be tough and strong. So why was he so scared of this _little_ girl?

The doctor and nurse fled from the room in a panic, either getting help or cowardly running away.

"It was _your_ brother you damn brat!" He hissed "This is treason! You think just because you're a skilled assassin you can get away with something like this? Know your place you stupid girl!"

"You're not much older than me you fool. You're only in your late twenties." She paused "A good leader doesn't make careless decisions and almost _kill_ a child that belongs to _your_ society. I don't care about the consequences, but _nobody_ touches my _brother_."

"Hey what about me?" Ezra pouted.

Kurumi shot a glare at him to stop being immature and he immediately backed down with a cheesy smile. He wasn't the one who'd almost been shot.

"What is going on here?!"

Mrs Maynard suddenly appeared along with three other assassins.

Both Lucas and Kurumi stared at the group as if forgetting what situation they were in.

"Kurumi point that gun _away_ from my _son_!"

The teenager gave the leader a threatening glare before dropping the gun on the floor. They separated from each other awkwardly. Lucas breathed a deep sigh of relief and began panting.

"All of you, to my office, NOW!"

* * *

"Madam I can explain."

"EXPLAIN?! I've heard enough! Pointing a pistol at your _leader_! What has gotten into you Kurumi?!"

Kurumi looked down to the floor and said nothing.

"And you!"

Lucas jumped in surprise.

"Not only did you almost shoot an innocent child, but two of them! You should be ashamed young man!"

Ezra snickered at Lucas' embarrassment. Morro pinched his arm and shot another glare.

"And Morro! You snuck out of the rebellion: which is dangerous and forbidden, missed all of your tests, never attended a single teaching session and worried us all to death! If you'd just been a good boy and did as you were told none of this would have happened!"

Morro stared at her and also said nothing.

Mrs Maynard sighed and looked at the five with a disappointed expression.

"Lucas, Simon needs a place to stay. Go and see if anyone has any room for-"

"We'll take him."

All eyes focused on the long haired boy.

Lucas looked at him impatiently "Hey, I'm sorry but the maximum is three-"

"I _said_ we'll take him."

The black haired man looked to his mother for help but she shook her head dismissively.

Simon smiled at Morro with gratitude.

"Okay Morro, Simon can stay, but on one condition."

Everyone looked at the leader expectantly.

"You take your test tomorrow."

* * *

"I can't possibly take it. What if I'm not good enough, what if I get kicked out?!"

"Morro you'll be fine." Ezra groaned impatiently, not worrying in the slightest.

The two boys were in their bathroom. After the recent incident, Morro was a little roughed up-so Ezra was washing him. The hazel haired made sure to be gentle with the arm that had been bitten.

"Hey."

Ezra and Morro looked to the door to see Kurumi with Simon. The boy was naked but tried his best to cover himself with a tiny towel.

"Could you bathe him too? Turns out they're both filthy."

"Sure." He replied plainly.

Kurumi took his towel away, which made Simon blush profusely and lifted him into the bath with Morro. He was completely bewildered as to how she had done that without feeling any embarrassment. The two children stared at each other uncomfortably. Kurumi left the room to get ready for bed.

"Hey what's wrong, aren't you two _best buds_?" He questioned sarcastically.

"Yes but we're both _naked_." Morro replied, slightly agitated.

The room fell so silent that you could hear a pin drop. It was an intense awkwardness. Not only were the two boys being way too modest, but Ezra kept staring at Simon distastefully whether he meant to or not.

"...Do you have a problem with me?"

Ezra, surprised, looked at Simon. He frowned.

"Of course I do. I don't think someone like you would understand though." He replied bitterly.

"I do. And I'm really sorry, you must've had a hard life. Morro told me about the situation."

"Oh, _I see_." He glared at his younger brother, making him gulp nervously. **(Yes I know they're not really brothers but they treat each other like brothers so they basically are from a non-biological viewpoint)**

"I'm not like other rich people, I swear, my parents are but I'm different. I won't treat you horribly or anything. I understand if you don't trust me."

"Oh so you're _different_ are you?"

He took Morro out of the bath and dried him with a towel. He then began to wash Simon's hair, but rather roughly. Anyone could tell he was in a bad mood.

"I can't believe Morro disobeyed my warning, I tell him not to go out, what does he do? _He goes outside_. Now his first friend is a spoilt son of a spoilt, rich household."

He talked as if Morro wasn't even in the room. The boy rolled his eyes.

Ezra managed to wash Simon all too quickly; he took him out of the bath and dried him with a different towel. Morro had already changed into his night wear but chose to stay. The rich child began to dress into some spare pyjamas.

"I'm being forced to keep you here, and I don't like it _one bit_. We don't need a nuisance like you here." Simon looked at the floor sadly.

"...Maybe you'd have been better off dead with that police officer or Lucas: if Morro hadn't _saved_ you that is."

He spoke calmly, yet he spat out his last sentence. His words were much too cruel for a child this young. As a result Simon's face began to scrunch up and tears began streaming down his cheeks. He sniffled and sobbed whilst wiping his eyes. You could tell he was a child, even without his appearance.

"Sorry, you're right...I should go. I'll find somewhere else to sleep. Goodnight."

Simon rushed out of the room as fast as he could as to avoid any further humiliation.

Ezra sighed "Stupid kid, if he goes crying like that to Lucas he's not gonna get any symp-"

He then felt a fist punch him hard in the face. A little blood trickled from his mouth.

The perpetrator was none other than Morro.

"Geez kid, why did you hit me so damn hard?"

"Are you even AWARE of what you just said?! Words like that would make anyone cry! Simon didn't do anything wrong, I brought him into this mess and he has to stay here now because of me! Now look, it's his first day, you've made a bad impression on him and made him _cry_! It's wrong for the rich to treat us like scum, but if you act like that towards _Simon_ just because he's the son of a rich family, then I really don't know if we're all that good either!"

All Ezra could do was stare.

"Now I'm gonna go find him and bring him back, and I expect you to apologize!"

The long haired boy ran out and slammed the door before the other could say anything. The teenager sighed and cupped his right hand over his face.

"Maybe I went _too_ far."

Suddenly the bathroom door opened.

"Ezra what did you do?" Kurumi asked sternly "I hope you're not causing any trouble."

"I kinda did that already." He muttered.

Kurumi sighed, then patted him on the back.

"I know why you're upset but...he doesn't seem bad, and he's not going back to his parents anyway. Even if he tries anything, we can easily handle a small child."

"I guess you're right."

The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her chin next to his neck. Ezra could feel her breast on his back.

"It'll be ok." She whispered comfortingly.

She released the embrace and headed back to the bedroom.

The hazel haired blinked.

 _Did she just...?_

His cheeks flared a deep red after realizing what had just happened. It had been six years since their last hug; this, however, felt very different from their previous one.

How? Of course he knew, but he was too ashamed of himself to admit it.

He sighed, tried his best to get rid of his thoughts and waited patiently for the two to come back.

 **I'll leave that last bit up to interpretation ;) Anyways, luckily I managed to get WiFi on my second week so I can post now! Yeeet**

 **~NervousTrash358**


	13. The Ellenburg family

**Hello! Sorry I haven't been updating much, school's been a pain :P**

 **Warning: Some sensitive topics are mentioned briefly; skip if you can't handle it :(**

"Hey!"

Simon turned around to see his friend running towards him and stopped in his tracks.

"What are you doing here?"

Morro caught up quickly and skidded to a stop "I'm here to get you back to our room! Why else would I be here?!" Morro hissed "Besides, we're not allowed out at this hour, Lucas is gonna kill us!"

Simon sighed "Okay fine, but I don't wanna trouble anyone, so just for tonight! And then I promise that I'll leave and none of you have to put up with-"

"You _can't_."

Morro's face was hidden by his hair; his head was slightly hung out of shame.

"Wait, why?-"

"If you go back, you could possibly give away our location and plans, so now we have to keep you here. I'm not saying I don't trust you but...those are the rules, i-it's all my fault and I'm so sor-!"

"YAAY!"

The short haired boy tackle hugged Morro, both of them toppled over and fell to the ground. Morro was completely surprised but Simon didn't flinch whatsoever, he still had his arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Simon! Keep it down!" He scolded, bumping his fist lightly on Simon's head "Also why are you so happy?! Don't you realize what this means? You won't get to see your parents ever again!"

"Exactly!"

Morro stared at his friend and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you're the same whiny boy who constantly mentioned his ' _Mommy_ ' and ' _Daddy_ ' to me every five seconds?"

"Of course I am!...Wait, I'm not whiny!" He paused "But...you're the one who helped me realize that my parents aren't great people."

Simon looked to the floor and bit his lip.

"There's actually something I've been hiding from you, about my parents I mean."

"Tell me when we get back to our room, for now we need to go before we get caught." He warned Simon, looking around cautiously.

"Let's run!"

"Wha-"

Before he could object, Simon grabbed his hand and ran-dragging Morro behind him.

* * *

The door burst open, surprising both teenagers, revealing the two boys.

"We're back!" Simon announced happily, Morro sighed and closed the door.

Ezra tried his best to lurk in the background but Kurumi firmly pushed him to the front impatiently. He sighed and knelt so he could be level with the ten year old.

"I-I'm really sorry, all of those things I said came out without any thought and I should've known better. I know you're not responsible for everything that's happened, so...do you forgive me?"

Simon smiled "Don't worry, I kinda knew that already, you are forgiven...what was your name again?"

"Oh, we never introduced ourselves properly!" the hazel haired chuckled "I'm Ezra Kizakura, this is Kurumi Ackerman." He gestured to her by putting a hand on her shoulder "You're Simon right?"

"Simon Ellenburg." He corrected with a smile.

Kurumi's eyes widened in realization "Ellenburg...as in the Ellenburg police force? They're responsible for regulating everything around here according to the city laws, although it's probably just a coincidence."

"No it's not unfortunately."

Morro, Ezra and Kurumi stared at Simon-a deafening silence filled the room.

"Umm...everyone, sit down, I can explain..."

They all did as he said and sat on the bed, Simon joined them.

"The Ellenburg police force belongs to my family. My great grandparents were the ones who set it up, but it was just a normal police organization. Then the new laws came into place, and my parents were asked to set some new rules for the new law from the mayor. So they ordered the police to break into every house that was known to have poor people inside and force them to leave. If they didn't they...t-h-e-y..."

Tears streamed down the boy's face once again, he wiped his eyes quickly and tried to hide them.

"I happened to find the files in my daddy's office a few days ago, which is how I found out. The police did so many terrible things. My parents knew about all of it: killings, beatings and rape...although I don't really know what that-"

"You don't want to." Ezra said quickly.

"Oh and...I found an important file and I ripped it out of the record. Lemme just..."

He scrambled through a medium sized pocket in his pants and pulled out a scrunched up piece of paper. He unravelled it, then straightened it. He gave it to Kurumi.

"You should...read it; I think you deserve to know." Simon said quietly.

Kurumi's eyes quickly scanned the pictures and the writing for a quick overview, her hands suddenly gripped the paper tightly.

"What does it say?..." Ezra asked the girl at the sight of her hands.

"This is...a document that was recorded...when my parents were killed by those police."

"Mom and Dad?!" Morro jumped, his eyes widened.

Kurumi nodded gravely and stared back at the paper. There were pictures of both of her parents' bodies from many different angles. The teenage girl had never had the chance to see the sight of the bodies properly at the time, but seeing it now in full detail reminded her of that dreadful day-she shook her head and tried to clear her mind. She cleared her throat and began to read.

" _Document number: 8906542. Part of the Poverty Conversion Operation, number 143. The Ackerman family, a family of four had their house broken into by two male officers from the Ellenburg Police Force. The father, Lee Ackerman forty five years of age. The mother, Yuri Ackerman, thirty eight years of age. A daughter, Kurumi Ackerman aged nine and a son, Morro Ackerman aged four. Mr Ackerman refused to cooperate, he was struck with an axe in self-defense resulting in death. Mrs Ackerman, in distress, pepper sprayed one of the officers and it was described that a 'great force' pushed them towards the wall-it is still unknown what it was. According to anonymous previous records, Mrs Ackerman participated in the Anacondrai war, it is suspected she is an elemental. Both children attempted to escape but failed. They were sold to a civilian named Walder Smith._ Wait...it also says _Additional record: Walder Smith was brutally stabbed to death along with his wife and son. All of his servants were found dead, they all had gunshot wounds, it is believed they were shot to death. All slaves mysteriously disappeared including Morro Ackerman and Kurumi Ackerman. A witness claimed she saw Kurumi Ackerman escaping from a mansion floor with an unknown teenage boy a few minutes before Samuel Matsuda was found dead in his armchair, his throat had been slit. She is currently under the 'wanted' category for suspected murders and if found, will be trialled along with all of the slaves who disappeared with her._ "

"They know about...the killings?! We're busted, we're doomed!"

"Hey, hey calm down. It's not like we go out in public eye. Plus, I'm not that surprised, one of the assassins would've been seen sooner or later no matter how careful we are. Let's just...make sure we don't stick around to get caught."

"I'm really sorry! My family are responsible for the death of your parents and it's-"

Ezra put a hand on Simon's hair and ruffled it.

"Hey come on, we know you weren't responsible for any of that, and you were a small child at the time all of that happened. So don't blame yourself okay?"

"O-Ok..."

"Also thanks for getting the document Simon, at least we can warn Lucas about it, and maybe being the son of the Ellenburg family could actually prove useful someday." Kurumi smiled a little in thought.

Simon blinked a little in confusion as he didn't get the hint.

* * *

An hour later, they had all finally settled into bed. Kurumi and Morro slept in the same bed as usual. Ezra still slept on the floor but this time, Simon was beside him in a separate futon.

Morro was the only one who wasn't asleep. He was too busy worrying about his test tomorrow.

Would he get kicked out? If so, would he have to leave his family?

All he could do was wait and see.

 **I wasn't too motivated to write today so sorry if it's not as great as my other chapters, also I haven't proof-read it either because I'm feeling really lazy ;u;**


	14. Thoughtless consent

**AAAAAH! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner ;A; I haven't really had a chance to work on the laptop much because my brother is using it for revision (His finals) so until he finishes AND I finally get my own computer** **my updates will be really random and inconsistent so I'm really sorry** **｡゜** **(** **Д´)** **゜｡**

The day of the test.

Each child and newcomer was lined into rows of ten, Morro included. He stood up straight in pride, but his legs shook a little in nervousness.

Lucas gave the same speech as always every year the test took place. Kurumi had advised him to ignore it as he already knew how each job worked anyway.

At the very side, amongst a crowd of parents and supporters, were his family. Kurumi gave him a reassuring smile and Ezra was carrying Simon on his shoulders-the child held a paper sign above his head of a drawing of supposedly Kurumi, Ezra and himself giving Morro a big hug. In all capitals above, it read: 'LOVE AND SUPPORT!' with a heart on it *****. It was very messy, but nonetheless, got a chuckle out of his friend. He waved at him to let Simon know he had seen it.

Simon couldn't do the test with him since he was rich and couldn't be trusted to not leave. He was also always required to have someone with him. At least he didn't risk getting kicked out.

All of the test participants were excited, discussing what job they wanted to do and competing as to who would do it best. Morro, quite the opposite: he was too busy planning on what to do should he fail the test. Forcing his family to leave the rebellion shelter was out of the question. He would much rather leave by himself, but knowing them _especially Kurumi_ , they'd never let him leave.

 _So what would he do?_

His pessimistic thoughts were rudely interrupted by a fat man yelling at the top of his lungs that the tests had begun.

He decided to be safe and go with childcare first.

The long haired as well as other participants were given a child each. Unfortunately, he was given a bratty six year old, who wouldn't listen to anything he said. Not to mention she wouldn't stop _screaming_. The carer in charge told him gently he had failed.

Fetching was out of the question. He could carry the boxes despite their weight; however, he was too short to carry several crates at once. He couldn't even move five steps without falling to the floor. He instantly failed the third time he tripped.

Next he tried cleaning, but as soon as he realized he had to clean a diarrhoea filled toilet surrounded by flies he dropped his supplies and immediately quit.

Cooking. He actually managed to cook some decent meals when following the recipe, he managed to surprise himself. Once he came to the head chef for his results however, he told him he had failed due to taking hours for just two meals.

Lastly, there was medical care, but of course he couldn't do that-he didn't have a degree or any proof he had previous experience.

So he did fail.

* * *

Morro ran out of the testing grounds and sank to a sitting position on the nearest wall. He buried his face in his knees and groaned in frustration.

"How did the test go Little Ackerman?"

Morro jumped in alarm and looked up, seeing it was none other than the rebellion leader.

The boy raised an eyebrow "I thought you were gonna call me 'Morro' from now on ever since you called me that when you attempted to kill Simon."

"That was one time, and it was a panic-filled situation. Anyways, I can already tell you failed."

Morro sunk his face back into his knees and sighed.

"What am I gonna do? I have to leave now don't I? That means either I leave with my entire family and LEAVE SIMON BEHIND or I leave by myself, but we all know how protective Kurumi is."

"Yes I'm well aware of that. Your sister is quite possibly the most intimidating person I know." He smirked, for quite a serious man; it was a rare sight to even see him smile.

He looked at the child on the floor and his smirk instantly disappeared. He crouched down and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You know...I could try and get you into a job, but you have to prove to me first whether you can do it or not."

Morro looked up and stared innocently at the leader "What do you want me to do? I don't know what job this is, but if it guarantees our stay then I'll do anything!"

"You're going to become an assassin, just like your brother and sister."

Morro's eyes widened "A-An assassin, but...I don't even know how to fight."

"Your sister said the same thing, and as soon as she was given a target by your brother, she managed to not only swiftly kill the master of your previous household, but his family too without raising any suspicion. Within a second she suddenly turned into the most skilled killer I've ever seen. If you two are siblings, then there's a good chance you'll turn out the same way. So...are you in?"

Morro blinked for a few seconds before swallowing and quickly nodding a 'Yes'.

"Okay then, here's the plan. Go to your family and tell them that you got a cleaning job. Once you go to bed tonight, wait until 11 o'clock, then sneak out of bed. Make sure you have some proper clothes hidden underneath your pyjamas. Then gather up your stuff, take a weapon if you can and meet me at the entrance. Two other assassins will be there with me. I'll give you the mission from there and we'll head out. Don't worry about dying during the mission, if you fail and I turn out to be incorrect, two assassins will be there to save you and get you out. If you succeed, you'll officially become an assassin. Sound good?"

Morro nodded.

"Great, so I'll see you at 11 o'clock."

Lucas began to walk away and left Morro sitting on the floor.

Suddenly, he stopped and looked back.

"Oh by the way." He added casually.

His tone turned grave.

" _No one can know, not even your family, and ESPECIALLY not your sister_."

He then turned around and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"Morro!"

Once again, the boy was startled, except this time it was Simon.

"What took you so long you little gremlin? We were waiting!" Ezra complained teasingly.

Kurumi crouched down and brushed the hair out of his eyes "...What's wrong? You didn't fail did you?"

"N-No...I got a job I guess-"

"YAY!" Simon cheered.

The teenage boy lifted him up and ruffled his long hair "I knew you could do it!"

The three of them hugged him in unison.

He was...happy.

Happy that they didn't have to leave, seeing how relieved everyone was.

...But at what cost?

His heart sank within seconds, 'worry' written all over his face.

 _What the hell did he just agree to?!_


	15. A failed victory

**Hey guys! My brother's finally finished GCSE's so I can hopefully update more often XD From now on if I can't he access to a computer I'll use my phone or tablet ouo Also I've decided that I'll do review replies on my notes because you guys say such nice things and I should really reply to them ;A; Anyways, enjoy!**

 **KitKatTheCrazyFangirl: :)))**

 **Tails FT Foxy: Aah thank you! Don't worry I'm not stopping, I was just so busy ;u; (And writer's block aArGh)**

 **MorroAndJaylynn: IT'S OKAY :D And dw I have! ;u;**

 **Edit: AAAH THIS IS SO LATE I'M SORRY ;A;**

 **Warning: Slight pedophillia. Also someone dies quite brutally.**

Another sleepless night.

Morro lay on the left side of the bed, as usual; his sister by his side, holding him close. Face buried in her breasts. It was warm, comforting, lulling him to sleep.

As tempting as it was, he couldn't. Wouldn't. Lucas was counting on him for the mission.

But resisting the temptation was absolute torture. He couldn't remember how many times he had almost slipped from consciousness after promising himself he was just 'resting his eyes'.

He turned his head slightly, the alarm clock read '10:50'.

Ten minutes to go.

Morro sat up from the bed and slowly pushed himself off. Kurumi twitched a little, her face scrunched up in agitation as if something was missing. The boy giggled quietly and quickly replaced himself with a pillow. Her face reversed to its original state and slept peacefully once again.

He crept quietly towards the bathroom and slowly shut the door behind him. Placing his hand on the faucet, turned it on, then splashed his face with cold water. He at least needed to be somewhat awake for whatever he was going to be made to do.

After he had finished, he dried his face with a towel and quietly opened the door. He snuck a peak at the alarm clock.

'11:00'

...

He needed to leave!

Morro removed his pyjamas in a flash to reveal the clothes he was secretly wearing underneath, grabbed Kurumis knife (She kept it on top of the wardrobe, he unfortunately needed the help of a stool to reach it) and approached the door to leave.

Suddenly he stopped, then looked back. Guilt surged through him.

"They'll be worried..." he said quietly to himself.

He quickly scribbled a note and left it on Kurumi's bed side table.

"See you tomorrow." He whispered and gently shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Morro, you're three minutes late!" Lucas hissed.

Two men, probably the assassins he had mentioned earlier, stood by his side.

"Sorry Lucas...I-I mean Sir!"

He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm not just saying this because I'm obsessed with punctuality, if you were a real assassin, being late could cost you your life. Do you understand Ackerman?!"

"Yes..."

"Good." He turned to the two men "Shall we?"

Lucas entered a security code and the door slid open.

"Let's move." Lucas announced.

* * *

"According to the coordinates, this is the place."

"Ok. Get to your positions, I'll instruct him."

After they left, Lucas knelt to Morro's height, putting one hand on each shoulder.

"The man you are about to kill is called Haji Watari. He is known for owning young female slaves in particular, and by that I mean little girls. He drugs them and uses them for...do you know what sex is?"

"When two people get naked and kiss in a bed. Then a baby comes out...I think..?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow then quickly shook his head "N-Never mind. The point is, he's a bad person and your job is to kill him." The black haired man took out a brown ragged dress "You're going to pretend to be a little girl; with your long hair, no one would know the difference."

"Seriously?"

"Hey, do you want to stay or not?"

"Fine."

"Get dressed, I'll be waiting with the others. Also, hide your knife. If anything gets out of hand: just scream. We'll come to rescue you."

"...Ok."

Lucas quickly nodded before running out of the alleyway.

And with that he was gone.

The child quickly removed his clothes and put on the dress, shivering in the freezing air. He nuzzled himself into his chest in an attempt to escape the cold. He latched the window open and scrambled into the building.

He landed with a thud on what felt like a concrete floor. The boy winced in pain as he tried to stand up: he had hit his stomach pretty badly.

"Dammit..." He muttered.

"What was that?!" Someone called.

As quick as lightning, his face turned to look behind him. He desperately tried to stand himself up on what felt like some sort of cupboard, but at every attempt he slid to the floor again

The lights were flicked on, Morro covered his eyes at the brightness still leaned against a cupboard.

"I knew it!" An angry female voice bellowed "Another escapist! Savage brat!"

Her footsteps stomped across the room and yanked at Morro's arms, forcing him to stand up.

Opening his eyes, he realized he was in some kind of servant's kitchen. There was a huge counter in the middle with a gas fuelled stove, a gas fuelled oven and another counter that lined up against the wall.

The lady with an uncomfortably tight grip on his arm turned out to be a chubby maid with a beet red face.

"I can't accept this, you're going straight to master!"

She dragged Morro out of the kitchen and up a huge flight of stairs, until they reached a huge wooden door. Without a single word, she opened the door and shoved him in with a hefty push.

Lying on his stomach once again, he slowly stood up with trembling legs.

"Ah, I see another troublemaker has decided to join us." A deep voice said.

Two girls stood in front wearing similar rags to him; one had long, curly ginger hair, the other had short blonde hair. They trembled and whimpered, hunched a little.

It was obvious as to why they were so afraid.

The creepiest looking middle-aged man was sat at a stool with a whip held tightly in his hands. He had short brown hair and a bushy beard. He didn't look rich at all, but according to what he had heard so far, he _had_ to be the master.

"Stand here, now." He commanded.

The child quickly walked towards him, standing at the same length of the room as the other two children.

He grinned "Good girl."

Morro cringed intensely.

The man, or 'Haji' stood up, brandishing his whip and began to circle around them.

A loud, and painful sounding smack echoed through the room. The ginger haired girl cried in pain, then lowered her voice to a whimper.

A short silence.

The sound rang out again. The blonde girl yelped and held her stomach to help ease herself.

A longer silence, save for the approaching footsteps gradually getting closer and closer...

Before he knew it, next one struck his own back. It stung like hell, he had an overwhelming urge to cry out, yet all that escaped his mouth was a slight shudder that only he himself could hear.

The girls stared at him in awe, wondering how on earth he suppressed the pain.

A little irritated, the bearded figure struck again, even harder this time.

He still didn't make a sound.

Haji grit his teeth "Trying to play tough are we?"

He swung his leg and stepped in front of him, smiling at him for a few seconds.

The man then swung his fist at the boy's face, Morro fell back into a crouched position and held his bruised cheek. Drops of a foreign liquid streamed down the inside of his cheek. Blood.

"Not so tough now are you?" He smiled in satisfaction.

The child continued to clutch himself, staring at the floor. He slowly moved his hand towards a cut in 'his' dress.

The man stood perplexed, raising an eyebrow.

But before he could process what he was doing, Morro quickly pulled out his sister's knife and leapt towards Haji, striking him in the eye.

They both fell to the floor: the little boy on top, a screaming older man at the bottom-permanently blinded in one eye.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" He wailed, before Morro raised his knife again and struck him in the other eye. He screamed even louder this time.

 _If he continues to scream any longer, someone's going to find me out._

Thinking quickly, he grabbed Haji's shirt and began stuffing the material into his throat. His piercing scream turned into muffled gags.

 _At least he shut up a little._

Despite being blind, he began to swipe his hands rather clumsily. In return, Morro began to stab him in random areas of his chest...clumsily.

Finally, he managed to push him off and stand up: breathing heavily as he stared at his victim struggling on the floor.

He felt...powerful.

It was him who had put Haji, a terrible man, in this state, and him who would decide whether he lives, or dies.

What a strange power.

He slowly walked up to the wriggling mess of blood and removed the clothing from his mouth-he deeply but quickly inhaled and exhaled in relief.

Morro held his upper body up, so the man was positioned on his knees.

"You know why I'm doing this...don't you?"

All the man did was tremble. _Coward_.

"Oh and by the way, I'm a boy you sick creep."

He stabbed him in the chest, Haji howled, then he began gagging as tiny drops of blood sprayed from his mouth.

...Perhaps he had let his anger get the best of him.

He sighed before pointing the blade to his neck and slowly drew a red, oozing curve before dropping to him to the ground.

Suddenly, Morro was hit to the face with a hard slap and was knocked to the ground. The blonde haired girl sat on top of him, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Y-You! Do you realize what you've done?!"

Footsteps began stomping up the stairs.

"Now look! They're going to realize that master's dead, and we're all going to be HANGED!"

The gravity of what had just happened finally dawned upon the boy.

"J-Just listen to me! There's a reason why I'm here, and I'm here to save all of you! There are others with me, and we'll take you to a place you'll be safe from the city!" Morro yelled.

"Go with you?! No. You're all SICK, if this is how this city's turned out to be then I'd rather die!"

She snatched Kurumi's knife and stood up, teeth gritted. The boy quickly stood up.

"Wait, you don't understand! I'm just trying to-"

But before he could finish, she struck the handle of the knife into the wall and breathed heavily. Sweat poured down her face.

"Everybody in this city is SICK." She breathed.

The situation finally clicked in Morro's mind.

"NO WAIT!"

He ran towards her in an attempt to take away the weapon.

But it was too late.

She struck the side of her head into the blade-again, and again, and again. Morro could only stare whilst the other girl held her mouth and sobbed into her hand.

After countless stabs, she finally stopped before swaying her body, then collapsing to the ground.

The blade fell in front of her.

A pool of blood spread around the body.

She was dead.

The door burst open.

He had failed.


	16. Hostage

**Hi again! Sorry this took so long ;A; Thank you for being patient!**

 **Review replies:**

 **MorroAndJaylynn-He's no longer pure :)**

 **Guest-*WinK~***

 **I cause him much suffering and I'm (not) sorry ;u;**

 **AaAh thank you! 3 It really makes me happy to hear that! I'm not that proud of some chapters in The End Of Time because I hate my previous and current writing style but SEriOusLy? It's youR tOp tWo (long) fAnfiCtiOns?¿ Am I reading thiS riGht? (Just kidding your review really made me happy w!~)**

 **Oh wow, a fellow anime fan! Tbh I do tend to get a lot of inspiration from anime and other great game series. Also yes the gore is GRUESOME I love it. My first proper anime besides from some episodes from Pokémon was Corpse party, I watched that when I was 9 and I handled it pretty well Jesus ouo' It's good if you choose not to imagine it, I don't mind, I personally LOVE to but I'm weird so :) *sHrugs***

 **Also I've decided not to censor swearing anymore because I find it pointless. I've rated this T and most 13 year olds I know already know them and are mature about them (Or they could be immature and swear 24/7, either or o3o) So censoring isn't a thing anymore. If you don't like swear words then please ignore them or turn on a word block programme. But dw I will keep giving warnings about gore, abuse and other nasty stuff you might not like.**

 **SoO warNiNg: Gore aNd death around the beginning!**

The door burst open.

It was the chubby maid who had forced Morro into the room earlier.

"What on earth is-!"

She stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened in shock.

Her mouth opened to scream.

Morro quickly ran towards her and forced his hand on her mouth.

She screamed anyway, but it was muffled by Morro's hand.

He turned to the red-haired girl.

"I don't wanna kill anybody else, but if she sees this and lives to tell it we'll be screwed. I'm so sorry."

She nodded sadly, never taking her eyes off the corpse on the floor.

He scrunched his eyes closed and turned her head an angle too far. She died instantly.

Despite the three chins blocking her neck, he could almost feel her bones break between his fingers. He shuddered uncomfortably.

Morro slowly approached the girl

"Come on." He whispered.

"...We can't just leave her there."

The boy sighed "We have no choice. I tried to save her but she-"

"I know, I know."

He cupped her face within his hands and wiped her cold tears with his thumbs.

"I promise this nightmare will be over soon. There's a shelter for people like us, you'll live there from now on."

She smiled a bittersweet smile, sniffling a little "Okay."

Morro ran to the window and opened it for her. He knelt, placing a hand on his knee.

"Get to the roof, there are people up there. They're with me so don't worry."

She smiled again, genuinely this time "Thank you."

The small girl stepped her feet onto Morro's knee.

But didn't move any further.

Morro smiled awkwardly "O-Oh...are you scared of heights? Want me to take you up ther-?"

Her left leg swung and kicked him hard in the face. He slammed into the wall and slowly slid onto the floor.

Everything ached-debris and dust all over his back and hair.

 _He couldn't move._

"Weird." She spoke out. Her voice had...changed? "I didn't expect to see _you_ here."

 _He was in danger._

"Who-..." Even his voice was hoarse, it was difficult to speak back.

 _No one could come to his rescue._

"Awww," She cooed "You look so scared! Don't worry, I don't bite!~"

Her very appearance rapidly began to fade away and another quickly replaced it.

It was another girl. Judging by her height, she looked just about Kurumi's age. She wore a long blue dress, cut at the hem to the top of her thigh, adorned with gold sequins; on her feet were blue patent shoes. Her hair was a cream blonde: tied into a high ponytail that went down to her lower back. Her eyes matched her outfit.

"I've been ordered to investigate the so-called 'rebellion' going around killing the rich. I was sent by the mayor himself." She smirked "I guess his suspicions were right, you people _were_ behind all this."

"How did you...do that?" He croaked.

"Oh, my disguise? That's just dark magic: a simple spell really. I snuck in pretending to be another little girl. Of course that fat _bitch_ found me and chucked me in here as well."

Magic? Like his _mom_? But her magic was specifically wind, this girl's magic felt a little different.

Perhaps their idea of 'magic' differed.

"Now it's my turn to ask questions."

She knelt down to Morro's height and brought her face closer to his to the point where the tips of their noses almost touched.

" _Where is this rebellion of yours_?"

A look of shock, then he shook his head rapidly.

"Hmmm, so you refuse to tell me, huh?" She stood up, finally giving him his space "Well that's ok!~"

Suddenly, her hand latched onto the child's throat. She held him above the floor, her grip on him tightening by every second.

Morro gargled and gagged, uselessly clawing at her hands. Drool escaped his mouth as his jaw desperately widened for air.

She stared at the drool in disgust "Filthy _rat_." She muttered.

She loosened her grip and dropped his weak body onto the hard wooden floor. She immediately wiped her hand on a tissue.

He gasped for air, breathed heavily and coughed loudly.

"Look _buddy_ , I'll give you three options: You could lead me to your base. Or I could take you straight to the government, I'm sure they'd love to see _you_! Or kill you on the spot and hunt down the rest of your group. What do you choose?"

"They all sound...terrible." He panted.

"Well you better decide quickly or I'm gonna go straight to option 3."

She took a revolver from the opening of her dress and pointed it straight at his head.

"I'll give you TEN seconds!~"

"Wait-!"

"Ten."

"If I tell you...you'll kill everyone!"

"Nine."

"Eight."

"What about the government? They can't find us!"

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

"Please, at least answer my questio-!"

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

...

"Z-e-r-o."

* * *

"No signs of the target, sir!" The assassin reported from the next room.

All bodyguards who had came their way had been knocked out, and the maid was nowhere to be seen. Only one assassin was present due to the other having to take the girls safely back to the rebellion.

"I can't fucking believe it." The man smirked "That little bastard managed to do it."

"But sir, you must understand he's a child: he could be severely traumatised. He's had enough time, we should go check on him."

Lucas put a hand to his face and sighed "Yeah you're right. Go upstairs and get him."

The assassin immediately ascended the staircase.

"I guess I'm the one who has to comfort him since his overprotective _sister_ isn't here." He muttered.

Lucas approached the bottom of the stairs "Hey! What's taking so damn lo-?"

"SIR!"

The sudden yell startled the rebellion leader.

"Y-Yeah?"

"THE BOY'S NOT HERE!"

...

N-o-t—h-e-r-e-?

His heart began thumping in his chest so quickly that he thought it would burst.

"What do you mean he's... _not here_...?"

"...Sir?!"

"I'm coming!"

He ran up the stairs.

Morro... _gone_?

This couldn't be happening.

He said he'd scream if something went wrong.

Why didn't the _damned idiot_ call for help?

"What happened?!"

His eyes widened in shock.

Two corpses lay in the room. One being the maid, it appeared her neck had been snapped. The other being a little girl, her temple had multiple stab wounds and next to her sat Kurumi's bloodied knife.

It stank.

"Morro... _did all this_?"

"It appears so. He must have reached a breaking point mentally and killed more than intended."

"Any ideas as to where he is?"

"To his whereabouts, no. But the window is open, he must've escaped through there."

"Wait...no..."

"What is it sir?"

Lucas walked towards another ragged dress that had been left on the floor and knelt before it to get a closer look.

"I was told by the other assassin that there were two girls outside the punishment room earlier. So where's the other?"

"...I don't know."

"Wh-WHATEVER!"

He quickly stood up.

"Search the entire house, and I mean every room! That is an order, understand?!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

They split up, frantically searching the house for the boy.

But even after all their effort, Morro was still nowhere to be found.

They came back to each other, both men without the long-haired child.

Lucas had no choice but to return without him.

* * *

When they returned, there was a huge commotion amongst the people. Everyone seemed to be gathered in the middle of the halls.

"What is going on here?" Lucas asked the group.

The crowd dispersed for their leader, only to reveal in the center none other than the last group of people he wanted to see.

Ezra and Kurumi, with Simon at their side.

As soon as the teenage boy caught sight of the man, he grabbed Lucas by the shoulders (Ignoring all formality of course).

"Where is he?! He's been gone since this morning and we've asked everyone except you, so PLEASE tell me you know something!"

"Unfortunately we haven't seen him, he must have gone missi-"

Lucas held his hand up, signalling his assassin to stop.

"Don't lie for me, I'll take it from here."

"B-But-!"

" _That's an order_."

He nodded quickly and stepped behind him.

"Your brother's disappeared. Where? I don't know. All I know is that he's gotten involved in some pretty messed up shit, probably went insane and ran away."

He paused, and sighed a deep sigh.

"And it's all because of me."

Ezra was instantly pushed to the side.

Shortly afterwards, Lucas was punched square in the face.

Everyone in the crowd gasped dramatically, some giving looks of disgust.

Holding his bruised cheek, he chuckled a little "Y'know, I was really hoping this feud between us would stop. Guess I went and fucked it all up."

The girl held him by the neck and held him up in the air.

"Kurumi!" It was Lucas' mother "That is ENOUGH!"

But this time she did not listen, did not care.

"Yeah..." He grunted "You could probably...twist my head off right now huh?"

" _Do you think this is some kind of joke_?"

"KURUMI! Put him down, THIS INSTANT!"

"Not until this bastard pays for what he did."

"Well...it would be great if you'd...just do it already."

She let go of him, he smacked onto the concrete floor.

His mother wheeled over to him "Lucas, LUCAS! Are you alright?!"

"Leave me be mother...I deserve this." He turned to Kurumi "Do whatever you must."

She placed her foot onto his head-applying a small amount of pressure.

"We're going to find him, _right now_. And we're not returning home until we find him. If we do, maybe then I'll spare your life."

"Seems fair."

A static blaring sound emanated from the announcement monitor in the hall. It gradually cleared away to reveal a girl with a high ponytail.

"Hello dear viewers!~ I'm sorry but unfortunately, I'm going to have to use the emergency signal to broadcast this. So sorry to anyone who isn't interested! Please do excuse me, but this is veeery important!~"

Ezra raised his eyebrow "Who _is_ that?"

"Lately, there have been increasing reports of innocent citizens of our city dying in such horrible and cruel ways." She lightly slapped both hands on her cheeks in a gasping motion "Who in the world would do something like that?!"

She paused for effect.

"Those filthy rats, that's right! The ones often known as 'the poor'! Except these people have formed some little group to go around and commit terrible crimes! Isn't that scary?"

Her cute smile spread into a wide, menacing grin. Her eyes were cold and dark.

"And I know you _dirty scum_ are watching this. And I know you're out there, hiding from the government and going out and in as you please. Despicable human _filth_."

Her face and voice was cutesy and innocent all over again.

"Today, I have a veeeery special guest! This one's a cutie! He just can't wait to tell his disgusting friends and family that he's in government hands and is going to be executed in two days if one of his idiots don't come out of hiding to come to get him! Isn't that riiight?~"

The camera faced towards a boy with long black hair and green highlight wearing rags. His hands were held behind his back and his mouth was tied closed.

His eyes looked cold and still.

She turned the camera back to her "Awww he's a little shy! ANYWAY, the mayor can't wait to meet a killer scum in person! I'm sure he'll be thrilled!"

Her face went back to cold and menacing.

"If you want this waste of oxygen to carry on wasting more of it for roughly seventy more years, I'd suggest one of you cowards toughen up and come and show yourself. Otherwise we'll find little Morro over here won't be home anytime soon!~"

"E-v-e-r."

"Okay byeeee!~"

The broadcast cut off.

A short silence followed suit.

"...Well...at least we know where he is now!"

Kurumi kicked him hard in the face-a pained reaction from everyone else.


	17. Grow up'

**Hi! I'm really sorry I know this is late :P I'm starting Year 10 now, in Britain that means that I've started my GCSE course which means I'm preparing for an exam that takes place in 2 years and they are working us HARD. GCSE's is a really important exam that takes place before I finish school so I've really got to prepare ;u; Also if you didn't see in my bio (Please check it for updates in case I don't publish a chapter) I'm working on a new story that takes the idea of danganronpa with my own characters, (If you don't know what danganronpa is about just look up the summary, you don't necessarily have to watch the original series because I won't give obvious spoilers) if anyone's interested let me know in the reviews so I can consider putting it on fanfiction, and if you have any questions feel free to PM me! (And for any requests on oneshots, don't forget about that!)**

 **Review replies: MorroAndJaylynn-He's never safe in my hands :3**

"Sir!"

Two muscly guards looking almost identical marched into the room, turned ninety degrees to face each other as the door was closed by a servant on the other side.

"Your daughter has returned, and she has a hostage!" The other declared.

A short, chubby man sat a few feet in front of them. The cushion and backrest that he rested himself upon was a crimson red velvet; the rest of the chair was pure gold with detailed carvings of swirls and beautiful flowers. A scarlett mat that filled two thirds of the room, decorated the bare stone floor.

The man sat expectantly, both elbows pressed against his wooden desk. Paperwork in neat piles much unlike the usual office desk, a copper sign that displayed his name.

 _Mayor Kousei Iden_

"My daughter never fails to impress me." The grey haired man chuckled "Bring her to me, I must speak with her."

* * *

The teenage girl stared out of the open window. The cool breeze pushed her long hair back and forth to nature's clock. She smiled sweetly to herself.

Her name was Aiko Iden, the offspring of the mayor himself. Everyone in the city knew her name for her kind deeds. She captured thieves and put them into jail, she collected lost children and brought them back to their worrying parents, she helped market sellers mind their shops when they were busy-the list was almost endless.

Citizens of the city believed she was a good person, her father believed she was a good person, _she_ believed she was a good person.

 _But she wasn't._

Behind the mask hid a malicious girl who had no pity for the less fortunate. She was arrogant, selfish, demanding and would do anything to get her or her father's way.

However, everything changed on that one fateful day, the previous month. She had fallen in love.

It was a very controversial love, however-she had fallen for a type of person she would never even dare to be near. Her past self would've hurled in disgust at this person.

She didn't care. She loved them with all of her heart; even more than her father.

She would do anything to see them again.

A-n-y-t-h-i-n-g.

And once she did-she'd kill her father, marry them and rule Iden city with them for the rest of her life.

She couldn't wait.

In the meantime...she had to put up with _him_.

She turned around, still wearing her innocent smile

Morro sat on a wooden chair, hard and uncomfortable, a stark contradiction to the mansion. His eyes were sad, disappointed.

She was bored from waiting, so she hoped teasing him would pass the time.

Her legs slowly made their way to him; she then knelt to his height.

"Your loved ones are coming soon. Aren't you happy?"

...No response.

She stood up and smacked him around the face. Her teeth were gritted and her eyelids tightened.

Morro snapped back into reality.

"ANSWER me you little PRICK!"

He avoided eye contact and looked to the floor, despite the glaring red mark on his cheek.

"WELL?! SAY SOMETH-"

"I can't believe I did that..."

She raised her eyebrow, confused. It was the first thing he had said to her since they arrived in this mansion.

"I got so mad that Kurumi and Ezra were hiding things from me, I wanted to show them that I could do their job, so I didn't have to be left alone all the time...but killing isn't something to show off about. All they wanted was to make sure I had a childhood, where I didn't have to worry about the city and its harsh rules, I-I've ruined everything! I'm so _selfish_!"

Aiko stood awkwardly at his side. She wanted nothing more than to just to snap his neck right then and there and be done with this nonsense.

But she had to leave him alone for the sake of her beloved. They would hate her if anything was to happen to the bastard, and she would lose all chances of a future with them.

She had to resist.

A loud knock on the door startled her out of her wits.

 _Probably father's guards_.

"Come in my dears!~" She called in sweetly.

Both guards opened the door, bashful smiles on their faces.

"Your Grace, your father is waiting for you in his study."

"I'll be there right away!" She smiled, patting the guard's humble head as he bowed.

She skipped past him as if she were in her early years of childhood as the guard's followed after her like puppies. The door closed, leaving Morro by himself.

* * *

Lucas, Kurumi and Ezra stood outside of the mayor's mansion. The pipe system from the rebellion leads to almost every area in the city, so getting there was easy.

Now the only problem was getting _into_ the mansion. Considering this mansion belonged to the most powerful man in the city, security surrounded the entire place. Not to mention getting past the gates and the courtyard practically littered with soldiers.

"So here's the plan-"

" _I'll_ be making the calls this time, you owe me Lucas." Kurumi snarled.

Normally Lucas would have severely scolded her for using his first name, but lately, this girl had been so intimidating towards him he couldn't even argue.

"Here's the plan." She repeated "Lucas, you need to climb over the gates and distract the guards. It's likely you'll be killed, but they won't if you threaten them with the false bomb I've prepared, they'll think twice before shooting-we'll come get you when we rescue Morro."

" _You're going to be in a lot of trouble when this is all over_." He muttered.

"So be it." She cleared her throat "Ezra, you're coming with me. We'll get in through the window, and then we'll find Morro. It'll be hard to find the correct room, but we're gonna have to deal with it."

Ezra nodded in response.

Kurumi looked at Lucas expectantly with a raised eyebrow.

He sighed, then scrambled up the barred gate and carefully lifted himself over the golden spikes.

"You in?" Ezra hissed.

"Yes!" He hissed back.

He ran to the end of the courtyard, holding the grenade in his hand. He lifted it high into the air.

"I'm going to blow myself up along with the mayor!" He yelled in a sing-song voice.

The guards instantly caught sight of Lucas and all rushed up to him.

"G-Get any closer and I'll do it!" He stammered, intimidated by the amount of guards surrounding him "And don't even think about shooting me!"

The men and women surrounding him tried their best to negotiate with the supposed madman.

Ezra shot a zip line from the top of the gate to the wall of the mansion. Kurumi stood above him with a look of embarrassment and disgust.

"Come on Ku, there's no time for modesty! Don't you wanna save Morro?"

"Of course I do!" She reluctantly allowed Ezra to hoist her onto his hips "But don't you dare get any ideas in your head."

"Yeah, yeah..."

He jumped off of the top of the gate and the pair soared past Lucas and the guards.

His feet pressed firmly onto the rooftop with all of his might, retrieved the zip wire and gently put Kurumi down. She huffed, brushing the hem of her skirt.

The teenage boy looked around for the nearest entrance, and to his luck, spotted a roof window nearby.

"Well that's convenient." He marvelled with a grin.

"Ezra, remember, we're not here to destroy or kill anything. So let's just grab Morro and get out of here without stirring up any tr-"

Ezra took out a sledgehammer from his scabbard and struck the window with full force. The window shattered into a cacophany of harsh sound causing Kurumi to close her eyes and clench her teeth.

"There!"

"EzrA YoU iDiOt!" She hissed and screamed at the same time.

Her careless male companion hoisted her up again and leapt onto the floor below.

The window lead to a large room filled with folders, books and documents.

Kurumi shoved herself off of Ezra's grip.

"I can't believe you! We were supposed to sneak in, not break in and cause panic!"

"No! I'm just doing things quickly instead of wasting time being 'stealthy', which is pointless anyway because in rescue missions, we always get caught. You can agree right?"

"Do you even care about rescuing Morro, because clearly, you've never cared! All you've done is get me into trouble, and you can _never_ be serious! Can't you be responsible for once in your life? After all it's your fault I've ended up like this in the first place!..."

Kurumi paused, staring hard at Ezra's face. His eyes looked shocked, even hurt at the words she had allowed to slip carelessly from her mouth.

"E-Ezra I didn't-"

" _Yes_ , you did." He retorted firmly "Fine, I guess I'm just a joke to you. After all, you've treated me like a kid for the past six years now, I'm not surprised."

He walked away from her, making his way to the door-heavy stomping were beginning to make their way upstairs.

"Here," He tossed the zipline launcher towards her "Wait for me at the roof, I'll rescue him on my own."

"Absolutely not!"

He ignored her, shutting the door firmly behind him.

 **I've mentioned everything I need to say above but since this chapter was written between two weeks I just wanted to mention something else. I'm so grateful for all the favourites I've recieved on this story and the amount of kind messages I get from you all and it's what's kept me going. I always fear with the huge time gaps between chapters that people will stop reading and give up on updates, so I get super worried when I don't update within a week. So I just wanted to say, I'll never stop updating this and there's always a reason why if I'm not. So please don't worry! And again, thank you so much for the support ;u;**

 **Also sorry this is so short, I've got a longer one planned next time.**


	18. Star-crossed lovers

**Review replies:**

 **MorroAndJaylynn-*Realness intensifies*. Yes, he's still suffering; how unfortunate ouo**

Both doors opened, two of the guards holding each door.

"Your daughter, sir!" One announced, with a glint of pride in his voice.

Aiko stood in between them at the door and curtsied graciously at her father's presence. She then made her way over to a chair that sat opposite to the mayor.

"Thank you, you may leave now."

The guards left, shutting the doors behind them.

"So, is it true you have a hostage?"

"Indeed."

"Marvellous!" He exclaimed "You're much more efficient than my guards! To think I had wasted years using public funding to catch these criminals."

"The hostage I have retrieved is called _Morro_. His parents were killed for failing to obey our new law about their way of life. He recently killed two people: a maid and a master-"

"He WHAT?!" He boomed "Why are you?!-"

"I know, father. His crimes should be punished severely, most likely through execution; but I assure you, I have a plan to catch _the rest of them_. You see, they have built a rebellion somewhere but I am unsure of its location. The sooner we find out, the sooner they can all be punished and our great city will finally know true prosperity."

The mayor chuckled "You truly are brilliant."

Aiko nodded thankfully.

* * *

Ezra rushed to the end corner of the hall, peeking cautiously over to the next hall. He spotted two burly men in suits standing guard in front of a room. He listened in on their conversation in case there were any clues to Morro's whereabouts.

"Why are we guarding this room again?"

The other guard smacked his useless partner on the head.

"Ow!"

"To make sure that kid doesn't stir up any trouble! Miss Aiko put us in charge here, _don't forget again_."

The hazel haired boy could hardly believe how coincidental his timing was.

 _Oh well..._

"Hey boys!"

The two men turned their heads towards Ezra.

"Who the hell are you?!-"

The teenager darted forward at lightning speed, ripping a dagger out of his scabbard. He leapt, pressed his shoe against one of the men's faces, and pushed himself into the air; his body fell back down again, poising his weapon firmly and brought it down onto the guard's eyes.

He screamed and wailed, walking every which way as he was blinded by his own blood. Ezra then struck again, this time at the side of his neck.

"Why Y-YOU!-" The other one gritted his teeth in terror and pulled out a revolver from his pocket, pointing it at the assassin.

Ezra reacted quickly, swinging himself behind the standing body. He pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the guard's chest, finishing him off. He lay limp against him.

The man realised what he had done "N-No! _I didn't mean_!-"

Ezra took advantage of his breakdown and stabbed him from under his jaw.

Blood spewed from out of his mouth " _Damn_...you!..."

He let go, allowing him to collapse onto the floor face first. A pool of blood accumulated around his pressed face.

Without a moment's hesitation, he moved over to the door. He tried turning the handle, but no luck. Of _course_ it was locked...

He took a few steps back, then hurtled himself at the door at full force. It immediately broke open and sent the door flying into the corner.

His eyes darted frantically for his brother.

"Morro! Morro, are you here?!"

A wooden chair lay knocked over on the floor along with split rope, but no sign of Morro.

Ezra froze in fear, expecting someone to come surprise him from behind. He couldn't believe he had fallen for such an obvious-

"Ezra!" He heard someone cry out.

He turned around to find Morro standing behind him, his left cheek was bruised but otherwise he was fine.

The teenager began to shake, tears welling in his eyes.

"Ezra...?"

He fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around the child as tight as he could.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" He sobbed against him.

Morro suddenly burst into tears "I'm sorry!"

The older boy released the hug, keeping his hands on the other's shoulders "For what?"

"I did something really bad, and I worried you and I put you all in danger and!-"

"Hey, hey, hey slow down..." He held his brother close to him again "Whatever happened, you can tell us once this is all over-okay?"

Morro nodded with a hint of a smile as Ezra wiped his tears with his thumb.

"Come on." He lifted the boy into his arms.

"Where's Kurumi?" Morro asked.

"She's-..." He thought better of it and decided not to explain "You're gonna see her, I promise."

* * *

"Dammit!" Kurumi cursed "Ezra!"

She rushed to the door.

"What the hell was that?!" A muffled voice called from outside followed by the loud footsteps from before grew ever nearer. She couldn't go that way, she had to leave.

She darted towards the window, swung it open and shot the zip line launcher that Ezra gave to her to the top of the building. Kurumi manoeuvred herself outside and began climbing towards a nearby window.

Once she reached it, her legs kicked her body backwards and swung at the window-shattering it entirely. She rolled onto the floor and retrieved the zip line.

She had ended up in some kind of hallway, right next to a huge room with double doors.

The long haired girl put her ear to the door.

"Well, I'll be heading out now. I need to check on the hostage." A familiar, and sickly sweet, female voice could be heard.

...

... _Shit_.

The teenager sprang past the door as fast as she could, but the doors opened, hitting her ankle. She fell face flat onto the floor.

"Urgh!" She grunted in panic, she knew for sure she had been caught.

Kurumi faced behind her, only to see the very girl from the broadcast stare at her in awe.

Her fear rose into a surge of anger.

" _You_!" She gritted her teeth " _What did you do to my brother_?!"

Her eyes were...unusually star-like, and she blushed profusely to Kurumi's agressive demands.

"It's you!" The blonde teenager sighed dreamily "It's _really_ you!..."

 **Sorry the ending's rushed ;u;**


	19. Lust at first sight

**I'm starting to get way more consistent with my uploading so that's good, hopefully it stays that way .u.**

 **Review replies:**

 **MorroAndJaylynn-Yeah, I realized that they haven't really interacted much since the first couple of chapters with all of the drama and action going on. I'm glad I did that scene because I want to remind readers that they are still very close. Pffft, best time to skim read a chapter -u- Also thanks! I was kinda worried the chapter was bad ;u;**

 **Crazy-No you are definitely not crazy, you hit the nail on the head ;)))) ShE is VeRy gAy for Kurumi. I was thinking of tricking readers into thinking her TruE LoVe was Lucas or Ezra but that'd be a silly divergent from the plot so I decided against it :/**

 **Warning: Ok, this one has a few sexual undertones...including death and gore at the end owo**

Kurumi stared dumbfounded. The atmosphere was...awkward all of a sudden as this _girl_ stared at her as if she were gazing upon a supreme deity.

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

The girl at her feet looked cautiously both ways before snatching Kurumi's wrists and yanking her onto her feet. She then began running, pulling her behind her.

"H-Hey!"

They suddenly stopped at a door with the name _Aiko Iden_ plated to the door, the owner opened it and practically threw Kurumi into it before shutting the door behind her and locking it.

Kurumi grunted heavily as she sat up from the floor.

"How the hell do you know my na-...No, how do you know about me at _all_?"

The girl remained still as she stood above her prize.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm poor just like everyone else. You made it very clear how much you hate us in that _wonderful_ broadcast of yours..." She added sarcastically.

"That's...true. I'm no different from my father, I absolutely detest such human filth. They're all the same! Money-hungry fools who can't even follow a simple law!-"

" _A simple law..._ " The dark haired teenager grit her teeth "You call that _simple_?"

Aiko sighed "You're so adorable when you're angry."

The assassin took out a dagger she had borrowed from Lucas "I'm wasting my time talking to someone like you. Get out of my way or I'll be forced to!-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Aiko threw herself at Kurumi. The assassin landed on a silk duvet, Aiko's hands pressed on both sides of the bed with her knee in between Kurumi's thighs.

"G-Get off of me!" She poised her dagger towards her captor's face, but she easily blocked it with her hands-using dark magic, she loosened the grip of the dagger and threw it onto the floor without raising a finger.

"I've always admired your fighting spirit, but if you want to get answers from me, you're gonna need to be a good little girl and stay still-ok?"

Her voice was a gentle but menacing: an unpleasant oxymoron. Kurumi wanted to fight back, but she could tell this girl was a skilled fighter. So, sucking up all of her pride, she nodded.

"Good." She smiled.

Kurumi had never felt so vulnerable in her life. Whenever she killed someone, they were utterly powerless to her and she had always been the leader of the family in the rebellion, even to Ezra despite being younger than him. This girl, however, had Kurumi right where she wanted her to be-physically and figuratively.

She hated it.

"You're on Wanted Posters you know, dozens of them. I had heard your name: 'Kurumi Ackerman', countless times. At first I was disgusted that a poor person would even dare to disobey the law and going around killing the rich. But then I saw you, one afternoon, gliding out of a mansion after you had probably just taken someone's life. How elegant and beautiful you looked...much different from those filthy men and women you get from your kind. I had no idea it was even the same person before I saw the newspaper headline going round, _Kurumi Ackerman strikes again_ and some other people you know were mentioned too."

She paused for thought "You were...too special to be poor I thought. So, I looked into your records, every newspaper report written about you...I wanted to know more. I wanted to see you again, have you all to myself! So, using information I already had from you, I predicted where you would strike next-and I was right! Except, your _brother_ was there instead."

She practically spat that last sentence out, it took Kurumi every bit of will she had to stop herself from acting out again.

"So I took him hostage, and here you are!"

"...Get to the point, _what do you want_?" Kurumi snapped at her harshly.

Aiko giggled a little.

"I want _you_ Kurumi! Don't you understand? I love everything about you!"

She ran her fingers through Kurumi's dark hair "Your smooth hair, your beautiful golden eyes."

She caressed Kurumi's waist, causing her to flinch uncomfortably "Your curves..."

The blonde teenager took hold of Kurumi's wrists "Kurumi, let's get married!"

Kurumi froze up in disgust.

"I know you don't like me, but I promise you! You'll never have to go back to that horrible life again! No killing, no fear...you'll never have to live that life again. You don't belong with them, you belong with me. I'll even go the extra mile and convince my father to lay his hands off of the rebellion, your people will be safe. So please, consider it!"

Kurumi couldn't believe she had been put into such a tight position. She didn't want to be anywhere near this psychopath, but if it guaranteed everyone's safety...just maybe...

N-No, was she stupid? This girl wouldn't keep her promise, she had gotten used to these meaningless promises the rich made. And if an unsuspecting poor individual fell for it, let's just say it wouldn't end very well.

Yet still...

Kurumi nodded with a smile "Of course I'll marry you Aiko."

The girl looked almost surprised "R-Really? You mean it?!"

"Of course."

"Then..." Her face grew closer to Kurumi's "Do you love me too?"

The dark haired girl nodded, with slight hesitation.

"I'm...so happy! I honestly wasn't expecting this!" The girl beamed.

 _We're not really getting married_ , she thought, _this is just a distraction_.

Her face grew ever closer...too close.

"Prove it to me." Aiko whispered.

She suddenly pressed her lips onto hers. Not a quick kiss, but a long, dreadful one. Aiko was practically forcing herself onto Kurumi.

And to make matters worse, she was beginning to get aroused.

Kurumi grunted impatiently, trying to push her off. This only resulted in Aiko's knee pushing against her even further.

She moaned.

 _Oh God she moaned_.

The girl had never been so ashamed, never felt so helpless. This situation was always retold by many young lovers in better times, speaking of their first kiss being a wonderful experience. But this kiss was one sided, and she had no control over the situation whatsoever.

Amidst the kiss, without Kurumi's realization, Aiko had moved her hands towards her chest.

And it wasn't until when one of her buttons were tugged at did she notice.

This girl didn't want just a simple kiss, she wanted _sex_.

She had had enough.

Kurumi released one of her wrists from Aiko's grip and slapped her hard across the face.

Aiko put a hand to her swollen cheek "Why did you?-"

Kurumi shoved her off onto the other end of the bed and rolled onto the floor.

"Kurumi?! Why'd you do that?! Don't you love me?!"

The bed was huge and extended to about a third of the giant room, so Aiko couldn't have spotted her so easily.

"Kurumi! The door's locked, so if you're trying to escape it won't wor-"

A hand cupped itself firmly onto her mouth and pulled her onto the floor.

Her head lay rested against someone's body, as she looked up, her eyes finally met with the cold, hard stare of her so called _Love_.

"H-e-y." Her voice was cold and unmoving, unlike that facade from earlier.

"Did you really think I was _serious_ when I said I loved you?"

Aiko's pupils and irises shook, she began to struggle under Kurumi's grip accompanied with frightened breathing.

She slowly brought the dagger into her field of view, only causing an even more panicked reaction from her victim.

"How am I supposed to believe that you _love me_ when all you did was look at me? You're no different from the others at all."

" _That's not love_."

She began whimpering now, most likely protesting against her claims.

"What you did to my brother was unforgivable, and for that I cannot allow you to live. So, for that...I-'m-s-o-r-r-y."

She pierced the dagger into the side of her throat, a muffled cry of pain resonating through her fingertips. The blonde teenager struggled and struggled, unfortunately, only digging the dagger deeper and deeper into her exposed throat. Her hands, by nature, started scratching at Kurumi's hands-peeling the skin entirely into red streaks. But her killer didn't flinch once.

Blood began accumulating from underneath her, her legs sliding and struggling in the red liquid provoking unpleasant squeaks from her useless movement.

Eventually, as the weapon was pushed to its limits, so was Aiko's body. Her hands stopped scratching, her legs stopped squirming, her body stopped struggling. Her hands fell limp onto the floor.

Kurumi slowly removed her hand from Aiko's mouth and sighed, exhausted.

Now to find Morro and Ezra...

 **Yeah this girl has a pretty twisted perception of the word 'Love'.**

 **Sorry this chapter is super weird, this is the first time I've written anything remotely sexual so it might be super awkward to read who knows.**


	20. A fatal mistake

**Hey! Sorry, it's been a while. I had exams three weeks ago that lasted for a long while, so I haven't really had time to write or even do anything else. Thank you for being patient :)**

Ezra left the room cautiously, holding the small child close to him as he snuck out.

"Do you know where she is?" Morro asked quietly.

"No. Not really." He replied honestly. The bodies of the two guards he had killed previously lay on the floor. He held Morro closer so he couldn't see the horrifying mess.

Ezra didn't even know where to start, the establishment was enormous, and Kurumi could've been anywhere. Knowing her, she definitely wouldn't have stayed put in the room he had left her in.

He _could_ leave with Morro, Kurumi was more than capable of fending for herself. But what if she thought they were both still in the building? She would be searching the place and putting herself at risk for no reason. No matter what, he had to find her.

He had to try.

* * *

Kurumi slowly stood over the girl she had just killed. Her eyes were cold and still; temporarily, it almost felt as if any human emotion within had melted away.

Her hand stung, but her prime focus was her brother and...

Ezra...

The color in her eyes came back to her suddenly as she remembered their last encounter.

She had hurt his feelings, told him it was 'his fault she ended up like this'. He seemed so mad, yet noticed a sad look in his eyes as if he himself believed it to be true.

Now that she thought about it properly, she had always treated him as second-best to Morro. She would kick away any physical affection he attempted to give to her, call him an 'idiot', treat him like a kid...

She treated him awfully, and she never even realized.

She curled up on the floor with her hands on each temple. Her eyelids filled with tears and before she knew it, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why does he even care about me?!" She wailed "I'm a horrible person!"

She continued to cry over the corpse; amidst this, she carelessly let a tear drop onto Aiko's cheek.

An icy cold hand latched onto her foot. She yelped in shock.

"Y-o-u…" A weak voice began.

She looked down, slowly, ever so slowly…only to see Aiko's bloody face look up at her, painted with a sick smile that would send a chill down one's spine.

Kurumi screamed in a panic, as she backed away to the wall behind her.

Aiko giggled weakly as she pulled out a purple gem, and crushed it with her bare hands. Her body began to heal every fatal wound immediately.

The teenager stood effortlessly, facing away from her and sighed dreamily once again.

"Oh Kurumi, you truly are cold…and yet here you are, crying over a boy."

Kurumi felt a pressing force crush against her neck, her body lifted off from the ground as she struggled for air. Aiko remained standing right in front of her whilst she turned around with a twisted expression on her face. She slowly approached her, pressing against Kurumi's chin with her index finger.

"But I came prepared; my dark magic never fails me. So much like your brother aren't you? Foolish boy believed I was a victim of that hunk, and look where he ended up."

Kurumi gritted her teeth and kicked her in the stomach. Aiko held herself by reflex as Kurumi dropped to the floor, coughing and spluttering.

"How…are you not dead?" She gasped "Magic can't…revive you."

"Oh but this spell was just a protection spell, to ensure your murder would never actually kill me. A shame I had to use it so early, we're only able to use it once in our lifetimes you know."

She looked down at Kurumi and sighed, she looked sane again "I'm…disappointed, to say the least. I promised you greatness and a lifetime of happiness with me, yet you killed me in cold blood…"

"You tried to RAPE me!" She yelled "And what you did to my brother is _unforgivable_! As if I'd ever fall in love with you, you crazy _bitch_ -!"

She took Kurumi's hand and dragged her to a door with glass windows on it.

"Come." She ordered.

Aiko opened the door, revealing a large white balcony, intricately decorated with golden flowers and vines. The view from their height was a spectacular image of the entire city's splendour, including the beautiful meadow in front of the mansion.

"I'll ask you again," Aiko began once again "Will you marry me, Kurumi?"

"Stop asking me that." She replied in a cold tone "…I envy your way of living, and there's nothing I'd love more than to never worry about my status in society, or whether I'll be seen by the outside world and punished simply for existing. But to be with someone like you and leave my family, my community back at the rebellion—I can't."

"Very well."

Kurumi felt her hand yank at her collar as her body was held over the large drop below.

"What are you?!-"

"You're stubborn; after all you're with a stubborn group of people. However, you'll come to realize one day that there's no point resisting me. _I will_ find your base, and _I will_ have your hand in marriage. But until then…"

Aiko lifted up her face with the happiest smile she could muster.

"…Farewell."

Her grip loosened on her clothing as she let the assassin fall down below. The last thing Kurumi saw was Aiko's smiling face, peering down at her, before everything went black.

* * *

A loud clash could be heard outside, followed by the tumble of bricks, startling everyone within the third floor of the mansion.

"Ah!"

Morro hid inside Ezra's shirt in a panic.

"H-Hey, it's alright…" Ezra reassured him.

It wasn't.

Within minutes, a few guards had arrived to investigate the noise. The teenager was left standing like a deer in headlights.

"He's taking away the hostage!" One of them alerted to the others.

"We have you surrounded!" Another shouted.

Ezra smiled sheepishly before smashing through the nearest window and making a run for it.

"Get him!"

The boy hurtled to another side of the roof to hide for a while and catch his breath, he set Morro down onto the bricks.

"Kid, listen. I don't know where your sister is, but I promise I'll find her. But you need to get out of here."

"No!" Morro cried "Those guards will hurt you!"

"I'll be fine. I deal with these kinds of people all the time, trust me."

He smiled at his younger brother, ruffling his long hair "Lucas is waiting down below, he's at the gate. Tell him to take you straight home and that we'll catch up, okay?"

Morro nodded hesitantly.

Ezra took out the launcher and shot a zip wire, straight down to the entrance gate. He was reluctant to send Morro on his own, but he had no choice. He positioned the child underneath the handle.

"Hold on, and whatever you do, DO NOT let go."

"O-Okay…"

The black-haired child took a deep breath and allowed his legs to fall of the building. Within minutes, the zip wire carried him away to the gate. The teenager waited a good long while before retrieving the line again.

He half-expected the guards would've spotted him already, but for some reason, the large cluster of footsteps ceased. Ezra peeked out from his hiding spot, only to see them gathered round. He decided to listen in.

"Whelp, looks as if we caught one."

"What do you reckon we should do? Kill her?"

"Nah, let's take her in. Rats like her deserve a better punishment than putting them out of their misery."

The hazel-haired teenager froze. He was certain the guards had found his friend.

"HEY!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

They all cleared away from whatever they surrounded and immediately noticed him. Within their circle, confirming his worst fear was Kurumi. She was completely covered in blood and was lying unconscious on the floor.

Why?...

Kurumi was strong, she wouldn't allow anybody to do this to her.

So _why_?...

Ezra gritted his teeth.

"You _bastards_ …" He growled, pulling out a machete from his scabbard.

The guards tensed up a little raising their weapons.

His irises contracted, making him look insane as he stared at them angrily.

"I'll _kill_ you…"

One guard had had enough and charged at him, raising an axe to his head. Ezra smashed his weapon into the side of her neck: blood sprayed out from her body before she fell off the building in a daze.

"Damn kid!"

The two guards began to charge at him, raising their weapons.

"Stop!"

They looked behind them, only to see Aiko: their master's daughter.

"Your Grace! He-!"

"Let them go. That is an order."

"But your father!-"

She grabbed both of them by the collar and pulled them down to her height.

"You will mention _nothing_ to my father. Now you'll follow my orders and forget this ever happened…o-r—I'-l-l—s-l-i-t—y-o-u-r—t-h-r-o-a-t-s—i-n—y-o-u-r—s-l-e-e-p."

The two guards nodded nervously.

"Get out."

Both guards left in a hurry towards the building.

"Well that's going to ruin my reputation with the guards…" She sighed.

Aiko peered down at Kurumi.

"She's unconscious after such a short drop…I must have roughed her up too much beforehand."

" _What_?"

Ezra quickly moved towards Kurumi and gently carried her in his arms. Aiko glared at him menacingly as he did so.

"Who are you?!"

"Aiko Iden."

Ezra flinched, recognising the name.

"The mayor's daughter…" He shook his head "Why would you help someone like me?"

"I care a lot about that girl, that's my only reason for helping you; I would've cut you _limb by limb_ had we not been in these circumstances."

She sighed "We got into a little bit of a conflict earlier though; she's in pretty bad shape."

"What the hell did you do to her?!" He snapped.

"None of your _fucking_ business. She's fine; I can assure you, most of that blood belongs to me. Now listen…"

She knelt down to his level and smiled maliciously "I will find you and your little rebellion one day, and she _will_ be mine. For now, I'll allow you to leave—consider yourself lucky after killing one of my guards."

She placed her hand on Ezra's shirt and bent down to kiss Kurumi on the cheek "This is goodbye for now."

Ezra shoved her away from Kurumi, staring incredulously at her as he stood up. She giggled playfully, a completely abnormal reaction to someone shoving a person.

"I see she is important to you, that's quite a shame. I guess I might have to kill you someday."

He shot a zip wire at the gate and stared back at her one last time.

" _Stay the hell away from us_."

The teenage boy glided away from the building, leaving Aiko alone.

Suddenly, multiple guards rushed to the roof, along with her father.

"Aiko, what on earth happ-?"

He paused as he stared at his daughter, completely spattered with blood.

" _Aiko_ …what did those fools do to you?!" He yelled, completely overcome with anger.

"Oh, I'm completely fine Father…in fact, I have good news..."

She pulled out a folded map from her pocket and held it out, allowing it to unfold for the whole group to see.

"I managed to pickpocket this from one of the assassins." She handed the map to her father.

He took the map and glanced at the drawings and notes, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"This is just a map of the sewers. Why would somebody-"

She pointed to the middle, where every sewage tunnel led to from every point in the city.

"We finally found it, Father—the solution to every killing committed by the poor."

Her father stared at her in shock "You don't mean…"

She nodded.

"The rebellion's location."

 **Yeah, that kiss wasn't sincere whatsoever. Just a way for her to steal the map from Ezra's pocket :D**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, be sure to leave a review :))**


	21. A reunited family

**Hi there :) Back at it again with another update.**

 **Review replies:**

 **NinjagoFan-Yes, there will definitely be more ;) Even though my update schedule's messy due to exams, my story's continuing until it finishes (Including possibly two more main stories). Also thank you :D**

 **Warning: Child abuse and a death, takes place after the 'unconsciousness' part**

Ezra, exhausted and injured, limped his way over to the door. He had had to run very quickly until he got to the sewer tunnels, just in case someone were to follow him.

Kurumi still lay motionless in his arms and at this point, was only tiring him further-but he didn't care. He was too determined to get her home, have her treated. Then she'd wake up and be her usual, bossy self again.

If she didn't then...he didn't know what he'd do.

He slammed the buzzer with his fist.

"Hello?-"

"LET ME IN!" He yelled.

"C-Can I have your name first?"

He sighed "Ezra, and Kurumi's in my arms. She needs medical attention _right now_!"

"I recognize your voice, you can come in." The doorwatch replied plainly "And I've sent some paramedics to come and pick her up."

"Thank you!"

The heavy, metal door opened slowly. Ezra limped into the shelter, but didn't get far before collapsing onto the ground. Everyone immediately caught attention and came to his aid.

"Hey, are you alright?!"

"He's one of the assassin, isn't he? He's a lot younger than I thought he'd be."

"He needs a doctor!"

The teenager looked up at them all with a weak expression.

"I'm...fine. Kurumi...needs it."

It didn't take long before his brain fell into a deep state of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Oi…"

The boy murmured a little and turned in his sleep.

"OI!"

Someone began violently shaking him, the tired child's eyes shot open from the disturbance.

"Fucking finally...how long are you going to sleep, eh?"

Ezra glared at the bearded man in front of him and pushed his body back towards the wall.

"Well? Don't just sit there, get up."

He did what he was told, he kept his face low.

"Here." He tossed money at him "I need some booze, go and get some beer cans from the market or something."

"We're low on money and we've ran out of food. Why would you wanna buy alcohol?"

" _Did I ask for your opinion, boy_?"

"I'm HUNGRY! I've skipped so many meals, starved and did what I was told. I've been your slave for so long, I at least deserve to be fed! Can't you think about me instead of your stupid addiction for once?!"

After his outburst, he shivered as he looked down onto the floor, then back up at him.

"Mom wouldn't-"

He felt a hard fist hit his cheek, his fragile body fell onto the floor.

"Don't you dare even _mention_ that _bitch_! She was insane! May I remind you her suicide was because she hated the very thought of y-?!"

Ezra cupped the money in his hand and shoved it into his pocket.

"Yeah, you're right. _And I can't wait until you join her_."

He slammed the front door and left before his father could say anything.

The whole journey to the market and back, he was cursing to himself, completely enraged. He had never liked his father (Or his mother even) and he had always been distant and cold, but when his mother died, he had developed that _awful_ addiction to drink. His skill as a blacksmith completely declined, and their financial situation grew worse and worse. Unfortunately, his father mostly spent the money on whatever satisfied his need to binge-drink.

Lately, it seemed as if he had stopped feeding him altogether. At this rate, he'd starve.

Ezra threw the door open and dumped the bag of cans onto the floor.

"I brought beer!"

…

"Hello?!"

Still no response.

"Tch, probably fell asleep again." He muttered to himself.

The small boy, exhausted and hungry, made his way over to the living room-his father's usual sleeping spot.

Ezra slowly put his hand on the wall outside of the room.

"You asleep?" He spoke to the door.

He put his small hand onto the handle of the door, carefully sliding it open.

"Fath-"

He paused, staring with wide eyes at the sight before him.

His father lay dead on the floor. His eyes were rolled back with his mouth wide open, creating a horrible image on his face. He had a few gunshot wounds in his chest. Although, judging by his expression, he probably suffered a bit before he died.

Tears welled up in Ezra's eyes.

His eyes lit up and his mouth widened into a sincere smile.

"Yes! FINALLY!"

He ran out of the room, then out of the house. He swung the door open and began laughing like a maniac, joyful tears streaming down his face.

"I can't believe I'm finally free! He's really gone forev-!"

Suddenly, a firm hand placed itself on his tiny shoulder. He froze, half expecting the body to be a fake and that his angry father was standing behind him.

"You're Ezra Kizakura, _right_?" A female voice asked firmly.

He turned around, only to see a female police officer. Her clothes were messy, and blood was spattered all over her clothes. One hand was on his shoulder, the other was tightly gripping an SMG **(Sub-machine gun)** fastened to her belt.

"Come with me. Resist, and you _will_ be killed."

The boy shuddered at her threatening tone and nodded.

She snatched his wrists, attaching cuffs to him without any hesitation.

"From now on, filth like you will be put where you belong."

* * *

Muffled voices surrounded him in his pitch dark vision, he couldn't make them out at all.

Eventually, their voices became more distinct.

"Is he ok?"

It was Lucas' gruff voice, he knew it all too well by now.

"Yes, we have assessed him and he barely has any injuries. He passed out earlier due to fatigue, he should be awake soon."

"I'm so glad!"

A childlike voice, definitely Morro.

Ezra's eyes fluttered open. It took a while for his vision to clear, but eventually made out four figures surrounding him.

A nurse, Lucas, Simon and Morro.

"There you are! God, what the hell happened to you two back there!"

"Ezra!"

The teenager looked to his left, only to see his little brother. He had a few tears in his eyes.

"The squirt and I made it back safe, so you don't have to worry about him." Lucas added.

Ezra smiled and nodded, he then widened his arms and pulled the tiny child into a hug.

"I'm-I'm sorry I-!"

"Hey, it's okay." He whispered "You're too hard on yourself kid. Just glad you're ok."

The taller boy then remembered the vision he saw on the building, Kurumi's limp and bloody body, lying motionless on the rooftop.

 _Kurumi_!

His irises contracted and he gasped before he quickly released Morro. His hands gripped Lucas by the shoulders.

"Where is she?!"

"Sh-She's next door to this room, please let go of Mr. Maynard!" The nurse protested.

Ezra ran out of the room at full speed.

"Hey, wait!" Morro called after him, following his brother into her room.

The teenager slammed the door open.

"KURUMI!"

Two nurses turned around, completely astonished at his barging in.

One nurse glared at him "How dare you barge into a patient's room you-!"

The hazel-haired teenager shoved her out of the way and rushed to the bed.

He knelt down beside her. She was still unconscious, and judging by the ICU, the other equipment and the hospital gown the nurses had dressed her up in: her injuries must have been very severe.

"Hey!"

Morro entered the room soon afterward.

"I must insist, leave immediately!" The nurse shouted, losing her temper.

"They're her family, if anything, it's best you be leaving."

The two women saw Lucas lean against the door.

"Yes sir!" They chorused and headed out in a hurry. Lucas followed from behind and shut the door, allowing the three to be alone.

Ezra's eyes filled with tears, he couldn't help but choke out a few sobs. He gently put his head on her chest and began crying into her gown.

Her heart was beating and he could hear her breathe, but it wasn't enough.

"Kurumi," He whispered hoarsely "I-I'm so stupid and careless a-and everything you said about me was right...I know I'm a pain but, I'm so glad you've put up with me all these years."

He looked up at her from his position "My life has been painful and all I've ever known is survival, but when I met you and Morro, I was finally able to live for a purpose. I don't care how many times you scold me, I just _want you back_ …"

His shoulders shuddered and his body shook as he cried into her gown, he had never felt so guilty in his life.

Two hands lovingly cradled his head, one began to stroke his wild hair.

His head shot up from her gown, only to see Kurumi smiling down at him. She too had tears in her eyes.

"K-Kurumi?!"

She wrapped her arms around his head and held him in her chest.

"I'm sorry too, I really didn't mean the things I said. You're the reason I have hope, that I was able to fight back against those who tried to control us, that I'm here _now_. And yet I've treated you so unfairly and with complete disregard-like a spoilt brat. I don't know why you care about me at all but...I'm flattered nonetheless…"

He took her hands and cupped it in his.

"Of course I do! You're loving, kind, strong, protective and you've kept me going all these years. You're amazing! I've always respected you, and I still do."

She stared at him, completely dumbfounded at his boldness.

The teenager began to blush when he realized how passionate his speech was "U-Ummm, I-!"

She wrapped her arms around him to silence his stammers.

"Idiot…" She sighed.

He hugged her back, happy she didn't mind.

"Me too! Me too!" Morro climbed onto the bed to try and huddle in.

" _Morro_!" She cried in relief, she wrapped an arm around him, then cupped his cheeks "I was so worried!"

"Me too! I'm sorry I caused you guys so much trouble…"

His two siblings began protesting, insisting that it was fine and they were just glad he was all in one piece.

"All that matters is, we're together again. And no matter what, I promise I'll never let anyone take any of you away from me again." Ezra announced, hugging the both of them "You're the two most important people in my life, always remember that."

"We'll be together forever, right?" Morro asked his older siblings.

"Mmm." Kurumi hummed "Forever."

They remained in their embrace for a while, wishing they could stay in it forever.

But one thing the three were certain of, is that no matter what life threw their way, _nobody_ could ever separate them.

 **;)))))))))))**


	22. Facing reality

**Hi :) Sorry for not updating last week, I was too tired tbh. GCSEs are getting more and more stressful and next year in May are when I'm taking them. I might be able to upload now and again but once summer is over I really doubt I can keep it up. Until school starts, I probably will barely ever update this story. But please know I haven't stopped for good and I will be updating very regularly after my finals. Hope you understand ;_;**

 **Review replies:**

 **MorroAndJaylynn: ;))))))))))))))))))**

"Hello Kurumi, happy you're still with us."

Lucas entered the room shortly after their group hug; Lucas' greeting only earned a vicious glare from the girl.

" _Lucas_. Just the man I wanted to see…"

"That's _Mr Maynard_ to you, watch it."

"I don't care about your formalities, tell me EVERYTHING that happened between you and my brother."

The black-haired male pinched his upper nose and sighed.

"The boy failed his test."

Ezra shot his head up.

" _What?_ "

"You heard me, didn't you?"

Beads of sweat dripped down Kurumi's face, she began trembling.

"Please...don't tell me you…"

"I decided to try for him to be an assassin; I didn't want him to be sent out of the rebellion. Maybe he would turn out like you since you're both related."

Kurumi clenched her fists tightly.

"Morro, go outside."

"But!-"

"I said, _go_."

Morro hesitantly slid off of the bed and slowly walked towards the door. His sister waited for him to close the door. She stood up...

Then she pushed him onto the floor.

She knelt over him and held a fist above his face.

"I'm almost envious, you've just woken up from unconsciousness and you're already kicking my ass."

She hit him in the face to shut him up.

"Kurumi, calm down!"

Ezra tried to lift her away but she shoved him to the side without thinking.

"All these years I've tried to maintain his innocence and keep him safe, and yet _you decide_ to take him on a dangerous errand and get him KIDNAPPED!"

" _You're talking_! You hurt a bunch of kids in front of him, that's technically no better!"

She punched him again.

"Better than you getting him _hurt_! _What did you make him do_?!"

"STOP!"

Morro had returned, only to find his sister beating the living hell out of their leader. She quickly stood up in surprise.

"M-Morro! I told you to leave!"

"And every time I do, you end up doing something like _this_!"

She stared at him, completely dumbfounded and ashamed. She wanted her brother to be innocent and look up to her. Now, it seemed as if he looked _down_ on her after seeing her worst.

"What Lucas did wasn't right, but I'm not innocent either! I thought that by doing this I would be helping, but I only caused trouble. So I'm sorry, I should've just left."

Ezra put both hands on his shoulders "Kid...we would never ask you to leave! You should've just told us what happened and we could've negotiated or _something_!"

"He's a member of the rebellion, he _has_ to contribute." Lucas added coldly "That's why he agr-"

"No, it wasn't."

Everyone turned to face the child.

"I did it to prove that I was strong. That way, I could go outside with you and Ezra and I wouldn't be alone anymore!"

Kurumi cupped both hands to her mouth.

The teenage boy looked his brother directly in the eyes "Morro, _what did you do_?"

The child began to tear up uncontrollably, as he recollected his shameful memory.

" _I killed someone_ …"

Ezra gulped slowly, trying to refrain himself from breaking down right then and there "D-Did anything else happen…?"

"A girl...called me sick and refused to be rescued. She s-stabbed herself in front of me. And that girl who took me away pretended to be another little girl, the last thing I remember is her threatening me before I ended up in that room."

His sister yanked him by the arm and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Until this city gets better...you are _never_ going outside again…"

Morro's eyes widened.

"N-No! I did it, I can do it! If it wasn't for that girl I would've-"

"NO MORRO!" She released the embrace and stared at him with a harsh look in her eyes "I will _never_ allow you to do that EVER AGAIN!"

"Oh, he will."

She turned to face her leader with the most terrifying glare.

" _What_?"

"He's just like you and he has a talent for combat, I can't just not make him an assassin. But taking what happened into consideration, I've decided to have you three work together. It's either that or go back on the streets."

"You!-"

"Kurumi, it doesn't sound that bad to me. If we're there, we can protect him and make sure he doesn't go to the extreme. It's the only choice we have anyway…"

"E-Ezra!"

She looked at him with a hurt expression, making the teenager flinch a little.

"Listen Kurumi. Ever since this whole thing started, his childhood was already ruined. Your little delusion of a 'perfect childhood' is just having him sit indoors all day. Then the boy gets curious, and now look where we are. He needs to get a taste of reality for once in his life. Besides, you were the same age as him when you killed someone for the first time."

"I…"

She grit her teeth and hoisted Morro into her arms, walking to the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're you going?"

She turned to face him with a cold glare, she had tears in her eyes.

"Anywhere away from _you_."

She slammed the door behind her, leaving the two in silence.


	23. Caught red-handed

**Why do I even bother updating anymore?**

From then on, it was decided.

Morro would become an assassin, and Kurumi knew perfectly well there was nothing she could do about it.

By the time the two biological siblings had entered their room, it was already evening. Kurumi didn't bother going back for Ezra, she just sat on their double-bed in silence and waited; Morro remained tightly encased in her arms.

The small child tried to wriggle free, but she didn't let go.

"...Kurumi?"

She remained motionless, staring into space.

"Kurumi!"

His sister didn't reply.

He shoved her head back and allowed himself to escape from her grasp. He stared at her helplessly.

"Why...are you acting like this?"

There was no reply.

Morro grit his teeth in frustration "Why is this such a big deal for you? You can't baby me for the rest of my life!"

She still didn't reply.

"Fine. Be like that then."

The boy stormed out of the room in a huff...bumping into Ezra as soon as he came out.

"Woah, easy there kid…" He furrowed his brows at the boy "What's with the grumpy face?"

"Kurumi's being weird." He pouted.

"How so?"

"She's not saying _anything_! Why is it that whenever I have any kind of responsibility, she hates it?! Shouldn't she be happy that I won't be kicked out?"

Ezra sighed and knelt to the boy's height, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen kid, I wouldn't exactly call 'killing people' a 'responsibility'. You've known ever since you were young that killing is bad, right? You can surely understand why she's upset."

"Yeah but…" He avoided eye contact for a few seconds "I may be told killing is wrong, but then you guys do it for a living-I don't understand."

"We kill bad people Morro…"

"Then it's good then right?"

Ezra shook his head.

"We have a reason for doing it, but we hate doing our jobs. We're only doing it in hopes of restoring freedom to our city, otherwise we wouldn't be doing it in the first place."

He paused for a moment to think "Killing...is something that even people _our age_ shouldn't be doing. Nobody should have to get used to it, but Kurumi and I were forced to. She's upset because she wants a better life for you, that's why she's acting weird."

"I-I guess...but _I'm_ not snapping her out of it, _you_ need to go talk to her. I'm gonna go find Simon, I haven't seen him since this morning."

"Sure thing kid."

He ruffled his hair before leaving Morro to his business.

Ezra slowly creaked the door to their room open, peeking his head out of the gap.

"Kurumi…?"

The room was dark, so he flipped the switch, only to find Kurumi sitting alone on the bed.

"Hey…"

He sat down with her and placed his hand on her back in an attempt to soothe her.

"How could you…?"

Ezra was startled by her sudden speech "What?"

"Side with Lucas! I thought you were on my side no matter what!"

"Woah, woah, hold your horses." He took her left hand in his "You know I'm by your side no matter what, don't go thinking for a second that I betrayed you or something."

"So what was that about then?!"

"I don't _want_ to make Morro an assassin, but there's no way we're getting kicked out of here. But during our missions, he'll only be helping us out a little, I'll make sure he never kills anyone again. Lucas would never know."

Kurumi stared at him in surprise, but quickly shook her head "But...what if he sees-"

She stopped herself and put a hand to her mouth.

Ezra put a hand to her shoulder "...What?!"

"What if he sees us at our worst, and what if he sees all of the _horrible_ things about this city!" She lashed out.

She held herself and shook a little "I want him to look up to me like he used to, I don't want him to hate me...but I don't blame him. I could never raise him right, even if I tried. _Why the_ _hell did I even think I could replace Mom_?"

Kurumi began quietly sobbing into her hands.

Despite the fact only seconds had passed, Ezra couldn't bear to watch any longer. He forced her to look up from her hands and gently wrapped his arms around her, with her face planted on his chest.

"I don't know why or _how_ you think that, that kid really loves you and that still hasn't changed. He just thinks you don't trust him, but that's normal for someone so young and he'll understand eventually."

He began playing with her hair "And as for you being a terrible caretaker, sorry, but I'll have to disagree. You've protected him, cared for him and managed to give Morro a better childhood than most poor children in this city. Not to mention you were doing this since you were _his_ age, a ten year old raising a five year old is amazing on its own, let alone in our situation. I'd even argue you're more of a mother than a sister!"

She chuckled a bit, wiping her eye "Really?"

"Truly."

He smiled down at her "Everything will work out, I promise."

She sighed, "If you say so…idiot."

"You're mean Ku."

" _Don't_ call me K-"

She yawned mid-sentence, her eyelids began drooping a little.

"I think it's time I leave you to sleep." Ezra chuckled. He placed his hands and lifted himself into a standing position.

But before he could move away, he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt.

"No, don't go."

Ezra's eyes widened, he turned around to face her with a confused smile.

"W-What was...that?"

"I want you to stay, I don't want to be left alone."

"O-Oh, okay." He knelt down towards his futon.

"No." She clutched his shirt tighter, stopping him from bending down any further.

"But I thought you said-"

"I mean _with_ me, I want you to sleep with me."

The sixteen year old stared at her blankly before his face gradually heated up into a hot, flustered mess.

"S-Sleep...w-with _you_ …? But we h-haven't done that since we were k-kids, a-and only with Morro in the middle…!"

"And…?"

"W-We're a boy and a girl both _sleeping_ together, didn't you say it was weird for you?!"

"I don't care about that anymore."

Kurumi looked up at him sadly "I shouldn't make you sleep on the futon all the time, it's not fair, we should take turns from now on. I'm sorry…"

"I-It's okay…"

She slid herself underneath the covers and opened the blanket a little at her left. Ezra slowly slid himself with her and wrapped the covers around them both.

Kurumi turned around and nestled herself in his chest and hugged him below his arms. He could feel her chest against his causing him to go bright red from head to toe. Kurumi secretly enjoyed it when he was flustered, it was a rare side to him and she knew her physical contact always made him like this. She was almost teasing him in a sense.

"You can hug me too as well, you know…" She murmured into his chest.

"M-Mm…"

He gulped before pulling her closer to him; his protective arms wrapping around her was a nice change to the usual protective hugs she would give to the small body she usually slept with.

"Thank you." She whispered.

It wasn't long before she fell into a deep and comfortable slumber in Ezra's arms. Although he was embarrassed, he was secretly happy she let him do this. When they were a little younger, his overwhelming affection was seen as perverted from the paranoid girl and she avoided them at all costs. Now she was encouraging them, which showed him all of her anxieties had faded away and she fully trusted his affections.

He lovingly stroked the girl's silky hair, curling her special, red strands every now and again. Seeing as he would never get this chance ever again, he faced down at her head before softly kissing her scalp.

He wished the experience could last forever, but his tired eyes forced him to fall into a deep sleep eventually.

Still, it was one of the most peaceful slumbers he had ever had in a long time.

* * *

Morro spent the entire evening looking for Simon, before finally giving up the search at a ridiculous hour.

He was beginning to get worried, and he would worry his siblings if he stayed out any longer. Maybe Simon was at their bedroom already, and his entire search would have been pointless.

He sighed, kicking the floor.

 _He better be back_ …

Suddenly, the main entrance bolted open, startling Morro at the sudden loudness.

He cursed at himself mentally for being startled at something so harmless. He turned around and continued on his way.

...Then he stopped.

 _Nobody is ever outside at this hour_.

Sensing an imminent threat behind that door, he quickly hid behind the nearest pillar.

The door was pushed open further and two dark figures entered the building.

Then they began to speak.

"This is the place?"..."I must say I'm impressed."

A female voice, but it was too distant to tell who it was.

…"Yes, I'm satisfied, but you won't receive your reward unless you find out some specific information I need. Can you do that?"

…"Good. I'll be seeing you then, keep going at your persona until we invade. I'll let you know what I need."

The huge metal entrance was closed and the person the female was with re-entered the code to lock the door.

Only Lucas and his mother knew that code, so it must have been them right?

He cautiously sneaked over to the person, praying his deduction was correct.

He slowly spoke out "H-Hello?"

"AH!"

The person fell to the floor, an object fell from their hands.

Morro picked it up. After a good feel of it, he realized it was a flashlight and pressed the 'on' button.

"N-No, wait!" A child's voice called out in a panic.

He quickly shined the light at the mysterious figure.

…

…

S-i-m-o-n.

T-h-e-f-i-g-u-r-e-w-a-s-S-i-m-o-n.

"M-Morro! I'm sorry, let me explain!"

Morro could only stare blankly at his friend, sprawled on the ground in an extremely vulnerable position.

"... _W-h-a-t-a-r-e-y-o-u-d-o-i-n-g-_?"

 **Ooga booga**

 **Felt like writing some fluff between characters that deserve more time to interact before everything goes to shit :))))))))))))**

 **Also the ending might be bad because I got tired and I rushed it a little, but it's not like my writing's good ever anyway so it doesn't really matter.**


	24. Deception

**Review replies:**

 **MorroAndJaylynn-Never trust me, everybody who's read The End of Time knows I'm a heartless author :D**

 **Also I know it was only a short review, but for a long time, I've been getting very little reviews on my story. I put up with it for a while because I've never minded getting a tiny amount of reviews, but then it dropped to 0 for a couple of chapters on this story. So I just stopped updating for a while, I figured nobody really cared and I found it pointless, but just knowing at least one person is interested prompted me to write this chapter, so thank you :)**

 **And please, if you like my story, review it! I would really appreciate it, it doesn't have to be overreactive or fangirly, just react to the chapter or just let me know you're enjoying it so I can keep updating ;u;**

"I-I!..."

Simon could only stutter and stumble on his words. He was in an utter state of panic and he had no idea what to do in a situation like this.

The short-haired boy clumsily stood up before running away.

"Wait, come back!" Morro shouted after him. He was left alone in the dark, with no clue as to where his friend had run off to.

The keypad glowed.

" _Shit_!" He heard someone curse.

Morro ran towards the light and tackled Simon onto the ground.

"Calm... _down_!" The long-haired child grunted in their struggle.

Morro felt around before finding a cylindrical object on the floor, he pressed the on switch, illuminating on Simon's stressed face.

"Let me _go_!" Simon yelled at him.

"No! Calm down and tell me what you were doing."

"Why should I?! You'll only tell everyone and get me _killed_!"

Morro's eyes glinted with a tint of aggression.

" _I_ will kill you if you don't tell me what the _hell_ you were doing!" He threatened.

Simon smirked "I know you don't mean that, but oh well, I suppose I'll tell you: _since I'm leaving this place anyway_."

Morro stared with widened eyes, Simon's entire demeanour had changed.

"Y-You don't need to. I already heard your conversation with that lady you were with…"

He stared at him with firm eyes "You...told her our location _didn't you_?"

"Yeah, _I did_. I betrayed you all! I've been working against you under the orders of the Iden family, more specifically the daughter, Aiko Iden."

" _That girl…_!" Morro remarked to himself. He shook his head "How? You've been here with us the whole time."

"I have a radio and as you saw there, I know the code. I've snuck out a couple of times."

"But _WHY_?! Why would you betray us?! We helped you!"

"You _kidnapped me_ and told me I was never allowed outside again. You didn't do _shit_!"

Morro sighed with a wavering breath.

"I know...I thought it was cruel as well but... _still_! What you're doing is only going to prove Lucas right: that the rich in this city really can't be trusted...and," He paused " _Maybe he was right_."

The shorter child stood up slowly with his face hidden.

"I don't care what you think about the rich, that doesn't affect me at all. I hate the mayor and his _psychopathic_ daughter probably as much as you do. But I have to follow their orders, or I won't be able to achieve my dream…"

Morro raised an eyebrow "Your _dream_?"

"To leave this place. Giving away the location to your rebellion and helping to plan their attack will guarantee my departure from this place. _I'll finally be free_."

Morro grit his teeth "You want to _leave_?! You're not even _poor_! Everybody I love will be in danger because of your selfishness! "

"Fine, then so be it."

"We'll kill the Ellenburgs!" He yelled without thinking.

Simon stared at him before bursting into sick laughter, metaphorically spitting in Morro's face.

"Go ahead...I don't care!"

Morro gasped in pure shock, shuffling backwards in his sitting position.

"W-What…? But your _parents_ are the Ellenburgs, _aren't they_?"

"You really are fucking naive…guess the tables have turned." He chuckled to himself, "That was a _lie_ , they don't even _have_ any children. I tricked all of you, don't you _see_?"

He sighed "My real name is Simon Kyoki, I'm the son of a peasant family, so I'm _just like you_. After being a slave for a while the mayor's daughter randomly selected me to be her errand boy. She ordered her staff to wash me, dress me up and cut my messy, matted hair into a neat bowl cut to make me look like the son of a rich family. She positioned me near the sewers everyday to see if I could find any poor people who were escapists since that was a common place for them to hide. But one day, I found something more useful to her than I _ever_ could have imagined."

He bent down and pointed a finger at Morro's chest with a sick smile " _You_."

Simon stood back up with a smile "So she ordered me to get closer to you and to somehow get inside the rebellion for intel. So the day we went out, I purposely brought no money with me to cause trouble and I knew I would be injured, but it was a small price to pay to reach my goal."

Morro grit his teeth in anger "And what about that house you claimed was yours?"

"One of the mayor's estates. I told you, it was all planned from the start."

Morro clutched his stitched arm, the one that had been bitten by that dog that day "So...everything we've been through...that was all for _nothing_?!"

"Exactly!"

"So...if you claim you're not rich, _you_ should have sympathy! You should be _helping_ us not _kill us_!"

Simon shook his head with a laugh "In a world like this, there's no 'looking out for' or 'helping each other'. It's everyone for themselves. It's kill or be killed."

"Th-Then…!" Morro stuttered, before pressing his teeth together and raising his voice.

"...THEN WE'LL KILL YOUR REAL FAMILY AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!" He shouted with pure hatred.

"You can't."

" _What_?"

"Because…" He turned around with a grin that reflected pain but also sheer insanity.

"T-h-e-y-'-r-e—a-l-r-e-a-d-y—d-e-a-d."

The boy was left numb, he stared at Simon with quivering eyes.

"They were all killed by the police on that fateful day: my parents, my newborn baby brother; all _gone_!" He yelled at him with tears in his eyes. He wiped them quickly before staring at his friend coldly "And you were acting so _high and mighty_ around me because your parents were dead. But little did you know…"

He cupped a hand to his face and sighed in disappointment.

"It's a real shame your life will be cut so short, I really did like you you know." He smiled condescendingly.

He turned around and unlocked the door, opening it with a loud, metallic screech.

He faced his 'friend' one last time.

"Thank you Morro Ackerman. Without you, I would have never achieved my dream."

He faced away from him and bent his head.

"Goodbye. May we never meet again."

He closed the door, leaving the traumatised child alone in the dark.


	25. This is war

**Hello! Felt like updating so here I am I guess lol**

 **Review replies:**

 **I am a Ninjago Fan: AaAh thank you! And that's fine, but you still decided to review and show support so for that I'm eternally grateful :)**

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It was dark...and windy.

Her long, golden hair swayed back and forth, calmly to the rhythm of nature.

She enjoyed sitting out on the roof; despite the danger of slipping and falling off, it had the best view of the city.

 _A city that would soon be hers_.

She smiled to herself, thinking about the beautiful assassin she was destined to marry. Once the invasion takes place, Kurumi would finally see that there was no point in resisting her and she would finally accept her offer.

They would be safe and happy together, after all...who would ever want to die as brutally as the rest of the rebellion soon would.

Her eyes found themselves gazing on a tiny dandelion that had somehow grown through a small gap in the tiles of the roof. She plucked it from its place before spinning it through her fingertips.

"Sooner or later, you'll be mine." She whispered. She blew on the flower, as its seeds were carried into the wind.

A secretive, childish side of her hoped they would reach Kurumi.

"Your Grace!"

She rolled her eyes coldly before breathing in and turning around, giving her guard the happiest smile she could muster.

" _Yes_?"

"The boy has returned, did you request him to come?"

Her eyes tensed.

" _What_?"

She stood up and began to walk at full speed, rudely pushing the guard out of the way.

"Where is he?!" She called as she hurriedly rushed down the stairs.

"Here Your Grace." Another guard spoke from the very bottom.

Simon stood next to him, noticeably shorter in comparison. He stared at Aiko with unmoving eyes.

"Care to have a chat, _boy_?" She grimaced.

Simon remained unfazed, her threatening attitude stopped scaring him a long time ago.

The guards quickly stepped out of the way. Aiko snatched Simon's wrists and dragged him up the stairs...far away from any other company.

She stopped walking and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What are you doing here?!" She hissed "I never requested anything from you!"

"I was discovered after our conversation, by now they probably all know that I'm a traitor."

"You _what_?"

"A...boy I know was eavesdropping."

Aiko pinched the top of her nose in frustration. _Now what_? The boy would have already told his leader by now, which means they were either prepared for some kind of attack or were ready to attack _their_ mansion as a warning to stay away.

"Miss Iden, I'm sure I've gathered enough intel and I know that place inside and out. Just tell me your father's intentions and we can come up with a plan from there."

She sighed, "We need most of them to go back into trade, killing all of them would be a waste for potential buyers. The assassins and organizers, however, are a different story: I want them _dead_."

Simon put a hand to his cheek to think "They have 'fetchers' in their community who grab food and supplies for the people. All of it come from rich individuals who have been working behind your father's back. Deal with them, and they won't be able to survive. Then they'll be forced to surrender."

"Smart cookie for someone with no education." She remarked arrogantly "After a week we will have guards pay a little _visit_ to see who is willing to surrender. Anyone who doesn't will be shot on sight."

Simon nodded.

She turned to face him "I suppose I should keep my side of the deal, I'll let the early departure of the rebellion slide."

She whistled to a nearby guard.

"Escort him to the exit of this city!" She commanded.

"Yes, Your Grace!"

She ushered Simon towards the heavily-armoured man "This is the only exception I've ever made to a poor person, you should count yourself lucky. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

The boy smiled happily before the guard took him away.

He would likely never be seen again from anybody in this city.

"Ah, Aiko!"

She turned around to see her father at the hallway, unaccompanied.

"Hello Father." She greeted politely.

"Any luck with the invasion?"

She sighed, "We're getting there, but there's some people we have to get rid of. More specifically, members of your cabinet."

Her father looked shocked "What on earth do you mean?!"

"They have been helping the rebellion behind your back. They must be killed. If you could please order their execution, that would greatly help me."

Her father bit his lip nervously "A-Are you sure?" He stammered.

"Certain. Don't ever doubt me, I promise you this will work."

He hesitantly smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder "Alright, you have my full trust."

* * *

"Morro…?"

The boy felt himself being shaken gently, his tired eyes opened slightly to a familiar pair of people.

"Hey buddy." Ezra whispered "Did you sleep well?"

The black-haired child sat up from his bed and wiped his closed eyes.

"I think so…" He muttered sleepily, stretching his arms a little.

"Why on earth were you asleep in the hallway, you know there's a curfew Morro. And you worried us half to death!" Kurumi scolded.

"Yeah, I know...Sorry I don't remember why, maybe I was tired after spending so long looking for…"

His eyes shot wide open.

"SIMON!" He yelled.

"Wait, what about Simon?" Ezra asked suspiciously.

Morro grabbed Ezra by the shirt.

"What time is it?!" He asked frantically.

"U-Umm, 3pm, you slept for a long time." He stammered, surprised at Morro's sudden behaviour.

"Oh _shit_!"

He climbed out of bed and ran out of the room in a hurry.

"Hey! Mind your language and _come back here_!" Kurumi shouted after him.

He ignored her, the only person he needed to see was Lucas. He had to tell him that they were at threat of an invasion!

He spotted his office and a man standing next to the door.

"Excuse me!" He panted "I need to speak to Lucas!"

" _Mr Maynard_ , you should learn some manners." He grunted.

"I'm sorry! But I really need to-"

"No can do, get out of here, _scram_!" He shooed.

"No!"

A passive aggressive grin spread across the man's face, bending down to his height and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen _kid_ , if you don't get the _hell_ out of here, then I'll-"

"HeLP tHiS MaN's ToUchiNG mE iNapPRopRiatELy!"

"Wait, _wha_ -?!"

Morro kicked him in the stomach before running past him.

He grimaced in pain "That _damn_ _brat_!"

Many people walking past stared at him in disgust, some intimidating-looking people began to pound their fists.

"W-Wait, it's not what it looks like!" He yelled nervously.

Morro burst into the office room, startling the young man sitting inside, along with his mother.

He faced the door "Little Ackerman what the _hell_ are you doing?!"

"Simon, he, he betrayed us!" He breathed

Lucas stood up from his chair " _What_ did you say?"

"He's been working behind our backs and now they know our location and they're going to invade and-!"

"Woah, woah, hey slow down…" He spoke softly, possibly for the first time in ages "Tell me everything."

So he did. He told him about Simon's hidden identity, how he was never rich in the first place, his dead family and his dream to escape...and how that dream required the sacrifice of the rebellion.

Lucas stared at him in disbelief, biting his finger.

"So that brat was just like us, but he decided to help them instead of the people he _should've_ been looking out for."

Morro nodded "The rebellion's in danger, we can't just ignore this!"

Lucas ruffled his hair "I know kid, I'm sorry all of that weight was put on your shoulders, but it's my duty as a leader to deal with it now."

"SIR!"

A fetcher came through the door, holding onto the side of the wall.

"What's the problem?"

"All of our supplies have been destroyed! And all the rich people who have been aiding us were all slaughtered!"

" _WHAT_?"

Lucas, Morro and his mother rushed out into the lobby. People were in a state of panic. What would have been an enormous pile of necessities in several crates was now just empty stacks.

"Those _assholes_!" Lucas muttered to himself, "That kid gave away our source of supplies!"

"What are we gonna do?" Morro asked fearfully.

The leader felt a tinge of guilt surge through him as the boy looked up at him. He composed himself with a swift clearing of the throat.

" _We fight back_." He muttered in determination.

He slowly walked through the fearful crowd and stood up on an empty supply crate.

"SILENCE!" He ordered.

Everyone did as they were told and the entire lobby quietened down.

"I'm sure you have all realized that our supplies are missing, thanks to a traitor that has been living amongst us, the government knows where we have been accessing supplies and has ceased this access to get us to surrender." He began "But we are never going to go back to our lives as slaves! We must put up a fight! So...ladies and gentlemen, this is my proposal..."

He held out a map to the crowd, pointing to the mayor's estate with a proud smirk on his face.

"We'll declare a war on them. All assassins are to attack the mayor's estate, the goal is to kill the mayor and his daughter. Once they're gone and with the amount of people we have, they'll be forced to comply and give in to our demands. All fetchers! You are to protect this rebellion with your lives until we achieve our goal. LET'S MOVE OUT!"

The crowd cheered as everybody began preparing themselves into their assigned roles.

Mrs Maynard shook her head "This will only end badly for them…while this may work, I do fear that we run the risk of being annihilated."

"The idiot has lost his mind." Kurumi muttered "We're completely outnumbered by their army. Not to mention they're trained professionals."

"But what else is there to do? Without supplies, we'll all starve." Ezra rebutted.

"You three! GET OVER HERE AND DO YOUR JOBS!" A huge man yelled.

Kurumi stared at him threateningly before turning to Mrs Maynard.

"Look after him and keep him with you until we come back. I just _can't_ let him fight, you have to understand."

"No worries dear, he'll be safe and sound with me." She smiled.

Kurumi smiled back before pulling her into a gentle hug.

"Thank you."

She released the embrace and kissed Morro on the cheek before her and Ezra left with the other assassins, but not before waving to the two.

As soon as the girl faced to the front of the group, she bit her lip with an immense amount of pressure.

 _She was going to survive this with Ezra_ , _no matter what she had to do_.


	26. In cold blood

**Hi, sorry for the lack of updates. I should've mentioned I was going on a hiatus that would last for a few weeks because I was in America to visit family and have my vacation. But I'm back now, so I'll update as much as I can.**

 **Warning: DeAtH. A lot of it.**

Mrs Maynard sat at her wheelchair, humming while sorting out files in her son's office. Morro, sitting a few feet away on the opposite desk, kicked his legs up and down and played with his fingers. He was thinking...deeply.

Regretfully.

" _Thank you Morro Ackerman. Without you, I would have never achieved my dream."_

Morro cupped his hands over his face and clenched his fists along with a fistful of hair.

 _Why had he been so foolish and naive_?

He began kicking the wood underneath him in his frustration, causing a knock to pulse through the room.

"Morro! Will you please stop kicking the desk?"

The boy stopped immediately and sulked "Sorry Mrs Maynard…"

She spun to face the child in her wheelchair and looked on in concern.

"What is bothering you my child? You've been wearing that sulk all evening."

Morro sighed.

"Nothing…"

"That is the most common lie I've ever heard in my life, I know there is something that is troubling you. Do tell." She insisted.

"What good would it do?" He mumbled, putting his knees up on the table and burying his face in them.

Mrs Maynard wheeled over to his desk, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

"It wouldn't do any harm." She said with a smile.

He paused for a little, before closing his eyes sadly.

"I'm...still thinking about Simon, and what he did to us. I can't forgive him, even if he did it to free himself. It was selfish! How could he?!"

Tears filled his eyes and gently trickled onto his pant leg; Mrs Maynard gasped quietly.

"Morro…!"

"My life was fine before I met him: I didn't know my siblings were assassins, I never killed anyone and this whole situation was never even considered a possibility before _he_ came! Just like how my life was fine before this _stupid_ law!." He looked up at Mrs Maynard with an innocent expression "Does destiny not _want_ me to be happy?"

The old lady quivered, cupping both hands over her mouth before pulling the boy into a sudden embrace. He shook, surprised by her action.

"You _will_ be happy Morro Ackerman! I promise. Even if it takes a while, I promise you _will_ find the right environment and everything will settle."

She was careful with her wording, of course. She couldn't promise Morro that this rebellion would last, or that his siblings would survive or even that _he_ would survive. The very possibility of that happening saddened her immensely and she prayed that it wouldn't.

"I hope you're right…" He replied quietly through tears and returned her gesture.

* * *

The town square of Iden city was quiet, with only a few people out. Well-dressed workers and customers had bodyguards accompanying them, so it was obvious how wealthy and well-off these people were.

A hooded figure wearing a black cloak blended in with the shadows. She walked through the middle, avoiding all the shops and houses. Her goal was not to return to one of the large buildings to rest. She was there to 'negotiate' with the mayor along with Ezra and Lucas.

As the rebellion's greatest assassins, they would be in charge of killing the mayor, his daughter and every guard in sight if they failed to comply...just as they once did to the poor many years ago. There could be many outcomes to the mission, but she hoped they would give in to their demands and prevent a political murder: the highest-ranked crime in the land.

Right at that moment, every assassin and fetcher had already snuck into the building (Which required the sacrifice of a few guards already) and were in position to begin the massacre and allow for the trio to speak with the mayor without interruption. .

Kurumi looked at the streets around her. She noticed that the further to the centre of the city you were, the wealthier the people got. This was further backed up by each district. District 1, were where nobles and government officials lived along with the mayor. District 2 were where the rest of the rich lived. District 3...was where the poor used to live, but it didn't exist anymore. This information had only been given to her recently by Lucas, which surprised her that even in a rich group of people, there were some still regarded as more 'lower class'.

She shook her head quickly and made her way over to the great wall surrounding District 1. Ezra was waiting at the top, also hidden by a black cloak.

The teenager must have noticed her as he immediately zip-lined down to greet her.

"Ready to go? Lucas is waiting for us at the top!"

She nodded her head silently, so as not to alert the guards standing at the gate two yards away.

He suddenly put a hand behind her back and he bent down a little to let another hoist her legs along with her body into the air. He was carrying her bridal style.

"Hope you don't mind." He grinned.

She scoffed at him, but secretly hid a flustered face underneath her hood.

Ezra jumped to the wall and walked back up along with the line quietly but quickly. He then took a big stride over the wall and onto a platform that faced his body north and gently put Kurumi down.

"Good to see you two." Came Lucas' voice "Our mission starts soon, I hope you're ready."

Kurumi raised an eyebrow "Shouldn't we give them the 'all clear' so they can start wiping out the guards?"

"Oh, I already did! I'm just waiting for them to give me _their_ all clear."

Suddenly, a walkie-talkie began to vibrate a voice in Lucas' pocket.

"All clear sir." Came the voice "We've managed to eliminate all guards quietly without alerting suspicion."

The black-haired man picked up his walkie-talkie and pressed its button to communicate his response.

"Excellent work. Stay alert."

"Yes sir!" Came the assassin's voice again.

He beckoned silently to the two to follow him. Lucas started off by tying a thick rope to a nearby post and around himself before launching off the wall, Kurumi and Ezra did the same.

The rope had been measured and cut beforehand so that the length of the rope would stop when the three just hovered above a roof of a house. They untied themselves before dropping to the tiles and sprinting from building to building towards the mayor's mansion.

After a few minutes, they landed on a house that was right next to their target building.

"Go!" He hissed to the assassins. The two teenagers launched their zip-wires on top of the nearest window on the fourth floor and propelled themselves upward, the leader followed suit. Ezra pressed his feet against the window and pushed himself off. His body swung backwards, then sheer force brought him back to the glass at an immense speed.

The speed allowed enough pressure in his foot to shatter the window pane entirely, causing his body to tuck and roll onto the shards. Kurumi came in immediately after and Lucas also.

Unlike their last visit, they didn't need to worry about the guards being alerted by the noise and could casually walk outside.

When they reached the hallway, their attention was brought to a few assassins and fetchers crowding around one room. Lucas rushed to greet them.

An fetcher noticed him and saluted "Sir! We're here to guard the room in case anything should happen, we're ready." He paused "Although, we tried the door but it's locked, you need to break it down."

Lucas nodded in approval, then signalled the two to the door. Kurumi behind Ezra, brandished her knife that she had reclaimed from her little brother after his killing. The assassin took a few steps back, then charged quickly and kicked it open.

The mayor was scared awake and jumped in alarm.

"What!...What on EARTH?!-"

Ezra cocked a pistol to his head as a warning not to retaliate. The mayor could only see his eyes through the shadow of her hood, they glinted threateningly.

Kurumi stood with Lucas in front of the mayor so as to block his view.

"Good evening Mr Iden." He began " _Mind if we talk_?"

"Why are you hiding your faces? _Cowards_!"

"The only coward is the one I see in front of me, sitting in his palace in comfort whilst ignoring the suffering of his own, vulnerable citizens." Lucas menaced back, inching closer to him.

The mayor quivered "My guards will!-"

"T-h-e-y-'-r-e—d-e-a-d."

Beads of sweat trickled down the man's forehead, he began whimpering.

"Relax, we're not here to hurt you, that is if you agree to comply with our demands." He grabbed him by the collar and held him up threateningly "You killed four government officials, the only wealthy that found it in their hearts to take pity and help the rebellion. You _ordered_ soldiers to storm their houses and kill them all brutally, and now our food supply is running out...care to explain?!"

He gulped and shook his head, saying nothing. The young man grit his teeth and punched his face.

"ANSWER ME _DAMMIT_!" He yelled.

"MY DAUGHTER!" He shouted back in distress, finally giving in.

Lucas' tense posture relaxed a little " _What_?"

"We've been trying to locate your rebellion ever since we discovered it exists, and my daughter was the only individual to ever have a lead in finding it. And then...she did. After a raid _your people_ did to _my household_ , she managed to steal a map of your sewer route from the last raider she saw…!"

Ezra flinched, remembering his first encounter with her and felt his pockets out of sheer paranoia. Nothing.

"She took _my_ map!" He cried.

Lucas stared at him incredulously, before shaking his head quickly and facing the mayor again "What else?!" The leader spat.

"She...She told me later on that she wanted specific members of my cabinet dead, so I complied because she told me they had betrayed me, and her suspicions proved to be true!"

The man grimaced at the mayor before swinging his leg to his face and kicking him to the floor. The old man cried out in pain and stared fearfully at the approaching man; he put a boot to his face and pressed hard.

"So your _brat_ is behind this fucking mess! _Where is she_?!"

"I won't tell you!"

" _Do it_. I don't want to kill you, even after everything you've done, but you're _pushing_ me!" Lucas warned aggressively.

The old man began sobbing " _Please_ don't hurt her!"

Lucas rolled his eyes "We won't, stop crying, now _go_."

Kousei stood up with a shaking posture before being pushed by Lucas to start walking. He made his way past the group with the leader and the two assassins following behind him.

The man stood in front of a door a yard away from his room. A pause.

"She's here." He said quietly.

Ezra shoved him to the side and turned the handle.

It didn't open.

"Open up! That's an order, or we'll break this door down!" Lucas yelled.

Kurumi gulped "Careful...this girl is...dangerous."

The leader looked at her reassuringly "We have it under control."

His answer didn't convince him in the slightest, and she braced herself to strike should Aiko attack.

The door opened with a creak, and a girl with long blonde hair and a blue nightgown smiled happily at Ezra.

"Why hello! What brings you here?" She asked innocently.

"Your father led us here, you took away our food and we came to confront you." Lucas boldly declared.

"Oh, is that so?" She leaned her head in to peer behind the assassin, only to find…

"KURUMI!" She squealed and leapt into her arms, hugging her tightly. Kurumi shivered in her grip uncomfortably "You came back!"

"No, I-"

"So this really did convince you! I'm so _glad_!"

The leader stared at Kurumi curiously "You _know_ her?"

"NO!"

Aiko glared at her father "So, you _led_ them to me?"

"N-No!" Her father trembled "They promised me they wouldn't hurt you!"

"You and I both know that's bullshit. A _good_ father wouldn't have given away his daughter's location at all, even if it cost him his life. You're nothing but a _coward_." She scowled.

"N-No, I didn't-"

Kurumi could feel a dark energy pulsate underneath her, before realizing Aiko's hand was the source. Her father's neck glowed the same colour.

Then her hand tightened.

At the same time, the mayor began clutching his neck, gasping for air.

"What's happening?!" Lucas yelled.

"I'm doing your job for you, _your welcome_." She smiled innocently. Her hand lifted higher into the air causing his body to lift from the ground.

His legs kicked and struggled, drool slithered down his throat.

" _Stop it_!" The black-haired man demanded.

Aiko's hand clasped into a fist, simultaneously her father's neck was crushed.

Then he was dropped. His body shook for a little, then ceased to ever do so again.

Ezra looked on in horror "Y-Your own...you _killed_ your _own_ father! How-!"

Aiko giggled "It's okay! Never gave a shit about him anyway." She then leapt onto Kurumi and nuzzled herself in her chest " _Kurumi's_ the only one for me!"

"Get _off_ of me you _psychopath_!" She shouted, pushing her off violently.

Ezra grit his teeth, grabbing her by the wrist.

"Touch her again and I'll _fucking kill you_!"

"Whaaat? Could it be that you also love Kurumiii?"

"Sh-SHUT UP!" He threw her to the ground "This is all _your_ fault! We were supposed to come to a compromise with him!"

"Well now you have to deal with me, and I already have my own compromise in mind." She smiled.

She stood up, dusting herself off.

"I love Kurumi, with all of my heart. And I promised her that once my father was dead, we'd marry!"

Ezra's face flushed, Lucas screwed his face up in disgust and confusion.

"So my proposal is, I'll marry Kurumi and we'll live happily in this city together and all of you will go back to being slaves. I'll spare your lives!"

"No! That proposal is awful, we can never agree to it!" The leader protested.

"T-h-e-n—d-i-e—w-i-t-h—y-o-u-r—p-e-o-p-l-e. After all, if the criminal justice system found out about this, your people would be shot for treason and you three would be publicly tortured and executed for political murder." She smiled maliciously.

Lucas clenched his teeth, stepping away from her. Her father was an evil man, but she...was a heartless monster.

And it didn't help that Kurumi, his strongest fighter, was cautious of her too. Even she probably couldn't take her down singlehandedly.

"Sir!"

The leader turned to the newly-arrived crowd who had followed them...his people.

A fetcher spoke up "We gathered everyone together and we heard shouting, are you alri-?"

He gasped at the sight of the corpse on the floor "W-Why is the mayor dead?!"

The man pointed to Aiko "His own daughter." He boldly declared, earning a few gasps from the crowd "You have a new objective…"

All of them waited patiently for further instructions "Yes, sir?" The same fetcher asked.

" _Kill her_."

Immediately after Lucas' command, both parties began to charge at her.

Aiko only smirked before snapping her fingers.

Soldiers suddenly appeared next to her and covered the entire section of the hallway, they raised their machine guns to them.

Lucas couldn't believe what he was seeing...how did she manage to…?

"I hid them with an invisibility spell. As powerful as I am, taking out your numbers would be pretty impossible." She began picking her nails "And I _knew_ you fools would attack after your food supply was cut, after all, what did you have to lose? So I came prepared."

The leader's legs shook as he gulped.

"Ok, you win...let us go." He surrendered, quietly.

Kurumi stared in shock, she had never seen her stubborn leader look so defeated in all her life.

"Hmmmmmm…" Aiko pouted, putting a finger to her lips in thought "Nope!" She shook her head innocently. She then pointed to the group.

"S-h-o-o-t—t-h-e-m."

The weapons flared up as multiple bullets shot at the group. Screams of terror rang out at first but were quickly silenced by death. When the screams died out, Aiko raised her hand calmly and the soldiers ceased their fire.

A mass of bloody bodies, all marked with multiple bullet wounds, lay in piles randomly on the ground next to them.

Lucas trembled, clenched his hair tightly and fell to the floor wailing in horror.

"Your army is dead, and soon we will do the same to your people. I gave you the chance to surrender and avoid facing your crimes, but now you've left me no choice." The teenage girl shrugged.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER, I'LL KILL YOU!" Ezra screamed. He lunged at the girl, but was quickly stopped by the guns that raised at him.

"Your best choice would be to leave, I'll spare your lives to serve as a lesson." She giggled, "It doesn't matter anyway, your death will be _muuuuch worse_."

Aiko gleefully clutched Kurumi's hand "Now you'll have no choice but to be my wife, right?! You surely don't want to di-!"

Deep-stone slashed her left eye.

Aiko's eye slit open completely and bled out. Her eye turned a deep crimson, trickling down her cheek as if they were tears.

She screamed in agony, clutching her eye tightly with her hands.

"How _long_ will it take for you to _understand_?" Kurumi menaced "I _HATE_ you, and I will _never_ marry you. So STAY AWAY FROM ME AND THIS REBELLION OR I SWEAR I _WILL_ KILL YOU!"

She looked around at the soldiers, they didn't even attempt to shoot her despite the one they were supposed to protect being severely injured. Kurumi expected she had warned them to leave them untouched.

" _Fuck you_." She grimaced, tears in her eyes.

She hoisted Lucas' arm around her shoulder and beckoned Ezra to come with her, in which he hesitantly obliged. Before they left, Kurumi decided to give her one last, cold gaze before propelling herself out of the window.

"Madam, are you alrigh-?"

"SHUT UP!" She screamed.

Aiko trembled, lifting herself off of the ground and stood up, using the wall as balance with one hand. Her other hand still held her eye.

" _I've changed my mind_. You won't attack in a week, you will attack _tomorrow night_! THAT IS AN _ORDER_!"


	27. Evacuation

The long-awaited beeps of the keypad sounded through the hallway, catching the attention of the people in the halls. Cheering ensued as the heavy door opened slowly. They all expected supplies, they expected a huge number of people to return.

But neither of those things came.

Instead, three bloodied individuals walked through the door; one of them held their shaking and traumatised leader. The cheering quickly died down and were replaced with shocked gasps.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" A random carer cried out.

He didn't reply, only staring at the floor.

"He's fine." Kurumi replied calmly "But he's a little shaken."

Two medical personnel stepped forward and took Lucas from the teenager's arms. She gave them a nod, indicating she trusted them with his care.

Kurumi then made her way over to the empty crate Lucas had previously used as a stage; climbing onto the wood, she stood up and firmly looked at all of them.

"Everyone!" She addressed, pausing a little.

"Kousei Iden...our tyrannical leader...is finally dead."

Everyone erupted into enthusiastic roars of applause, many hugging each other in relief.

The teenager quickly raised her hands to silence them.

"But we are not the reason he's dead. His own daughter...Aiko Iden, killed him in cold blood."

Now the crowd were confused and shocked, they didn't know whether to be thrilled or concerned.

"To make things worse…" She began "Everyone we brought with us...is dead."

Screaming. Crying. Her words had left a brutal impact of what was most likely, all of their loved ones. She gulped and bit her lip.

"And Aiko won't stop there...She plans to attack this very rebellion and force you to surrender as slaves or die at the hands of her army. I sincerely urge you all to leave this city as soon as possible, that is all."

She bowed before stepping off of the box and leaving the crowd to their misery and fear. The girl couldn't bear to stick around and wait for their reaction.

She rushed towards Ezra and took him by the hand, dragging him to their room and slamming the door shut behind them.

Ezra clutched his mouth, trembling, sliding down the door "I-I can't believe this is actually happening...I never thought…"

Kurumi nodded, holding back tears. She took Ezra's hand in hers.

"We're strong! We can get out of here. You, Morro and myself: just how it used to be!" She trembled.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. Ezra found himself returning the gesture.

"Don't worry...we always find a way you and I, just like we did back then…" She laughed softly.

"Yeah! Remember how freaked out you were about my murder and you told me I was crazy for doing something like that... _now_ look at you!"

"Guess we're both psychos huh? Raising a small child together."

Ezra felt his face flush "P-Parents?"

"Yeah, as in with Morro." She paused "I never really told you this, but Morro and I are both our mother's children, we barely have any physical similarities with our father. But you sure as hell look like him yourself...so the two of us slightly look like my parents."

"That's a...weird c-coincidence." The boy coughed.

Suddenly, the door was opened on the two. Ezra was knocked forward and in his surprise, grabbed Kurumi as they both fell to the floor.

Morro was the one who had opened it. He smiled widely and turned on the main light.

"You're bac-!"

He stopped, staring at the two.

Ezra was knelt on top of Kurumi, who was lying flat on the floor underneath him.

Realizing what situation she had been put in, Kurumi sighed, covering her face in embarrassment.

"Please get off me…" She grunted.

"Sorry!" He knelt upwards quickly, looking at Morro "I-It's not what it looks like kid!"

"Why are you covered in _blood_?..." Morro asked quietly, his eyes were still and wary.

The two teenagers looked at each other with the same message written on their face.

 _We can't tell him_.

"...Morro, we need to pack our things. We can't stay here anymore because the city's situation has gotten worse. We're leaving tomorrow...is that okay?"

Morro was silent for a couple of seconds, but smiled and nodded "As long as you're both with me, I'm okay."

Kurumi smiled with teary eyes, she stood up and rushed to hug him.

"You're a good boy." She said, nuzzling into his shoulder and letting go to smile at him.

She slapped his shoulder gently "Now go and pack your things in that small bag over there, shouldn't take too long."

Morro ran off to do just that. As the boy rushed to pack his very few clothes and other things, Kurumi faced her friend.

"I'm going to check in on Lucas and his mother, I'll be back."

"I'll go with you!" Ezra volunteered enthusiastically, standing up halfway from the bed.

She shook her head, "Who will look after Morro? Even if he did come with us, I can't have him seeing a traumatised man that will likely tell him _everything_. I'll fill you in when I get back, okay?"

The teenager nodded and sat back down, allowing Kurumi to exit the room by herself.

As soon as she stepped outside, she was surprised to see that everyone was already packing their bags, some even leaving already!

She frowned " _Would they even survive the journey?_ " She thought to herself. But nonetheless, what could they do? It was either die here, or die outside with the possibility of freedom. She sure as hell knew she'd do it if it meant...fulfilling her promise.

 _Listen, take your brother and get out of here! Get far away from this place and don't let them find you, whatever you do, don't get caught! Now GO!_

She clenched her fists at her mother's last words to her; even now those same words still applied. Kurumi promised her mother with every fibre of her being...she would not fail like she did last time.

"Miss Ackerman!"

A nurse rushed up to her with a frantic and desperate expression on her face. She was covered head-to-toe in sweat.

She furrowed her eyebrows, since when was she ever referred to like that?

"Mrs Maynard wishes for you to speak with her son!" She panted.

* * *

The hospital room.

Kurumi stood before the shivering patient along with his mother, who held her palm tightly with a shaking hand.

"He's showing symptoms of PTSD, but we don't know for sure…we've only ever had one mental health professional and he died a few years ago!" A nurse informed.

Kurumi nodded, then looked back at the former leader.

"That was reckless...what you pulled off back there. Leading a bunch of nobodies towards a government building with no plan. You are partially responsible for this, and I hold no sympathy for you in that regard. _What were you expecting_?" She scolded coldly, her eyebrows were furrowed and she indicated no emotion from her sentence.

Lucas clenched his fists.

"But…" She sighed, "This is probably the last time I'll ever see you, and I just want to say this: ...thank you, for rescuing us from that house and many others like us, it was nice while it lasted. Unfortunately, this day was destined to come whether we liked it or not...and now we must escape. You will too. Finally…"

"...I forgive you for what you did with Morro and I'm sorry for the harsh way that I've treated you. I hope this goodbye will be on good terms. That is all."

She turned around and headed for the exit, stopping as her hand touched the door knob.

"Goodbye."

And with that, the door closed, leaving his mother and the nurses alone.

* * *

Ezra lay on the bed drowsily, arms wrapped behind his head and sighed.

"So...you gonna miss this place little gremlin?"

No reply.

The hazel-haired teenager sat up on the bed in concern "Morro?"

The tinier boy smirked at him with his dark, green eyes from the end of the bed.

" _What_?"

"I _know_ what's going on~" Morro teased.

"...W-h-a-t-?"

"You know~"

Ezra furrowed his brows "I don't like your tone, kid…"

Morro climbed excitedly onto the bed.

"KURUMI AND EZRA SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N!-"

Ezra slammed his palm over the boy's mouth and silenced him aggressively with a 'SSH!'

"Kurumi might _hear_ you!" He hissed in a panic.

"I knew it!" Morro boldly declared "I suspected it for a long time but I KNEW IT! _You_ have a crush on my siiiiisteeeer~"

" _Morro_ ," Ezra grunted, pinching his temples "Is this _really_ the right time?"

"I thought we were the boys' club! You're supposed to tell me about boy stuff that you don't want Kurumi to know about!" He pouted.

"Yes! But that's _grown-up_ stuff!"

"You're still seventeen…"

The teenager groaned excessively, falling onto the bed and covering his face "You _better_ not tell her."

"I won't." The ten year old said wistfully "But only if you tell her how you feel by tomorrow night."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"Morro, we're escaping and that would be an _inappropriate_ time!"

"Look…" Morro sidled up to Ezra and sat on top of him, squeezing his cheeks "I know something bad is happening, don't lie. Wouldn't now be the only chance you'll ever _possibly_ get?"

The teenager avoided eye contact, he _did_ have a point.

"Okay _fine_."

"YES!"

The child giggled excitedly and slid off the bed, resuming his packing.

Right on cue, the door opened, with a gloomy looking Kurumi.

"Hi Kurumi!" The ten year old bubbled "I've finished!"

The girl gazed at his bag, changing her expression completely and chuckled, "You did a _great_ job my little goofball."

Morro smiled as she ruffled his hair.

"Also!-"

" _I think it's bedtime_!" Ezra interrupted, before Morro could trap him into a confession any more "You better go to bed and keep your mouth _shut_ , so you don't disturb anyone, okay?"

Ezra eyed Morro and Morro returned the gesture.

"Is there something I should know about?" Kurumi asked.

"NOTHING!" They chorused with a smile.

 **Bit tired so it's not much, not like I really care if the next update is a bigger deal.**


	28. Saying Goodbye

Although their original plan was to sleep early so they would have enough energy to travel the next day, the three ended up staying up to a very late hour. They told scary stories, joked, laughed and had one of the best nights they'd had in ages. It was thanks to moments like these that they were reminded: there is no point in surviving if you aren't _living_.

Kurumi glanced over at the alarm clock, which read '3:00AM'. She sighed and turned back to the boys.

"We should get some rest, it's very late."

" _Awwww_ …" The child groaned "But we were having so much _fun_!"

Ezra ruffled his long hair with an encouraging smile "But just think! After we escape, our lives are going to be so much better and we can have as many late nights as you want!"

" _As many as I like_?" Morro perked up excitedly.

"Yup! But it won't happen unless you go right to sleep!"

With that, the boy scrambled in a hurry to the double-bed and covered his tiny body with the enormous sheets.

Kurumi made her way over to the futon, deciding she'd let the boys sleep together on the bed. However, Ezra's hand reached out and pulled her gently onto the bed with Morro. She gave an exhausted smile and didn't dare argue any further, closing her eyes.

Lately, the futon was scarcely even touched by a body and it seemed as if the three were falling into old sleeping habits. Morro in the middle and Ezra and Kurumi either side of him.

"Goodnight, I love you both!" Morro whispered.

"We love you too…" They chorused tiredly.

Unaware of how tired they were, they all fell asleep within a matter of minutes, reaching the dreamworld once more.

* * *

A horrified cry jolted Kurumi awake and she sat up immediately. Her sudden movement caused her to feel dizzy, however, so she was forced to sit until it went away.

"What was that?" Came Ezra's voice.

When the fuzzy vision disappeared, she faced her friend with an uneasy expression.

"Do...you think it might be…?"

Ezra's eyes began to shake with fear. He pulled out his dagger before walking towards the door; Kurumi followed him, scooping up a nearby scabbard just in case.

The two made their way out and spotted a crowd gathering around the medical room, which was shut fast.

Kurumi sighed with relief, handing the scabbard to Ezra. Although, she still decided to approach the door and solve whatever problem had occurred there. Making her way through the high concentration of people along with Ezra, she knocked on the door with a striking fist.

"Open the door, it's Kurumi Ackerman!" She demanded.

After some hesitation, the door slowly opened and she barged through immediately, slamming the door at the crowd.

"What's the problem here?" She asked the nurse, who had opened the door for her. The woman was trembling and tears were dripping from her eyes.

"T-The curtain…!" She whimpered.

Ezra and Kurumi reluctantly looked over to the hospital curtain at the front of the room, hiding the patient in there from their view. Nurses and doctors were gathered there, some were crying remorsefully. But more noticeably, Mrs Maynard was sitting there silently in her wheelchair.

Her eyes had lost all of their colour.

Kurumi gulped nervously and approached the curtain, Ezra followed silently from behind.

She put a hand to the turquoise material, and dragged it aside…...

… _.!_

The girl's eyes widened and trembled. Her whole body shook violently at the sight before her as she fell to her knees, defeated.

"Kurumi!" Ezra cried out, dropping the scabbard and rushing to her aid…

...Then he saw it too.

Lucas Maynard: a cocky man who overstepped his boundaries, but was a caring leader to his people for so long and inspired many to take a stand and seek justice...was now a motionless corpse, hanging from a noose.

H-e—w-a-s—d-e-a-d.

His mother held an inked piece of paper in her hands, tightly squeezing it with her wrinkled fingers.

His suicide note.

" _Take him down_." She murmured firmly.

"W-We'll do that soon but...are you sure you want to see-?"

" _I said TAKE HIM DOWN_!" Her voice boomed at the doctor, all colour had returned to her eyes amidst her determination.

The man hurried towards the body, carefully loosening the rope whilst two nurses held the body from underneath. They then carefully lifted Lucas onto the bed.

Seeing his exposed face made it clear as to what the doctor had meant earlier. His expression was anything but peaceful. His eyes were open wide, his mouth and chin covered in saliva and blood, and his eyelids held remains of tears from his last moments.

Mrs Maynard wheeled over to him and gently closed his eyes. She then fished a handkerchief from her pocket before gingerly wiping his eyes and face clean of any bodily fluids.

Lastly, she bent down and kissed her son's now peaceful face.

"Rest well, Lucas…" She whispered hoarsely, fresh tears of her own began to drip onto his face. The woman wiped them away quickly and reluctantly backed away from her son.

Kurumi didn't know what to do...or think, but her body began moving on its own, propping her knees up and moving to hug the woman tightly.

" _I'm so sorry_!" She trembled in her shoulder.

The old woman gently placed her backwards and put a hand to your cheek "I know...you two never had the best relationship, but you have no reason to blame yourself dear…"

She began wiping Kurumi's tears with her thumbs "You needn't worry about me. You should be going away soon."

"You should too, ma'am." A doctor remarked, placing a hand on her shoulder. But she shook her head.

"I'll stay here."

"But-...But they might kill you!" Ezra protested.

"Let them…" She replied calmly, "An old woman like me would simply slow you down. Besides, I have lost my will to live...because my son needs me with him."

Kurumi moved her mouth to speak, but Mrs Maynard only silenced her.

" _You cannot save those who do not want to be saved_."

She brandished an M67 grenade from her pocket and mustered the best smile she could.

"I want to die holding my son's hand and take at least a few of the soldiers with me. It is my dying wish, please let me see it through…"

Kurumi managed to nod, and hugged the lady close for the last time. Ezra knelt too, putting a hand on the elderly woman's back.

She turned to the medical staff " _All_ of you. Get out of here!"

They all hesitantly obliged and left the room quickly.

"We should go soon Kurumi." Ezra told the girl, firmly holding onto her hand.

"Oh, my dears, before you go…"

Kurumi faced back to her "What is it?"

Mrs Maynard handed her the note and patted it firmly.

"This is yours…" Kurumi remarked.

"I'll be _dead_ , Kurumi. Let's just say that this contains his last words...and I want you to read it."

Kurumi smiled sadly "Thank you so much…"

Mrs Maynard nodded to her and reached out to hold Ezra's hand as well "Now you two go live a good life." She ordered her firmly.

The three gave each other one last smile before their hands parted.

The two left the room for the last time, leaving Lucas and his mother alone.

* * *

They were pretty much ready to leave by now. Each of their bags had been packed with a few essential items and they had taken the time to get a good, last look of what had been their home for six years.

Kurumi and Ezra figured it would be the best time to read Lucas' final note whilst Morro was distracted with saying goodbye to everything all too literally.

Let's just say when they finished scanning over the page, it caused Kurumi to cry uncontrollably. The shock of his passing, how cold her last words had been to him and how she really wished they could've _really_ left on better terms.

Maybe her crying was also the result of the reality of the situation, that they could all die at the hands of Aiko and never have any future together. She was frightened out of her wits, more than she wanted to admit.

But after some comforting from Ezra, they took their brother by the hand and together, left their ugly past of murder behind in the hope of a brighter, more peaceful future.

'Hope'...

That was all they could do after all...

* * *

 _To Mom,_

 _If you have found this note, the chances are you have found my lifeless, hanging body. You must be confused...sad and maybe even angry at me. I completely understand. But you need to know one thing...my suicide was not your fault. However, I have been foolish and gotten many killed; not to mention, I don't think I can handle seeing anyone else die during this evacuation...not after that._

 _I have been a terrible son, and I haven't given you the attention and care you deserve. I sincerely regret my behaviour and wish I could have spent more time with you properly before the incident. I hope you learn to forgive me._

 _To add to my sins, I have failed as a leader these past few months. Not just with the incident yesterday, but also with the way I have acted and the things I have done. Tell Kurumi she was right the whole time and I really messed up. I wish I could have broken out of my cold, hard shell sooner and given her and those two boys a big hug. Those kids deserve better than what destiny has thrown at them, and I sincerely hope they escape and live happy lives elsewhere. I hope they too, also learn to forgive me._

 _Lastly, I just want you to know...you are an amazing mother and I will cherish the happy memories that we have made together for all eternity._

 _I love you Mom._

 _Love your son,_

 _Lucas Maynard._


End file.
